The Accident
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: Kagome accidentally gets injured in her time, causing Inuyasha to face the truth about his feelings. But how does Kagome really feel? And what about Kikyou? What part does the new moon play in all this?
1. In the blink of an eye

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

Original A/N:

This story has been modified in compliance with 's policies regarding adult content. In this format it is rated M (R) and does contain a lemon, which has been properly edited. The original version is rated MA (X) and can be found on either mediaminer or AFF.

Also, please note that this story takes place earlier in the canon, back when they were still searching for jewel shards and Kikyou was still hell-bent on dragging Inuyasha into Hell. There are also a few details incorporated into this story that would now be considered 'off-canon', but please keep in mind that it was originally written back in 2005. Certain things hadn't yet been revealed in the manga at that time, and I have no desire to completely alter my original stories based upon what Rumiko did _after _they were written. I may go back and tweak a few things here and there, correct and update my grammar and fix any typos I'd missed, but _what happens _in my older stories will always remain the same, no matter how 'off-canon' they are these days. Enjoy!

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New A/N as of 4/18/11 **PLEASE READ**

First I would just like to say that I really love everyone's wonderful comments, for those of you who have so thoroughly enjoyed this story, however there are apparently some people out there who don't read author's notes, or are at least unable to grasp the meaning behind how subtly I'd written mine. I don't know what was so hard to comprehend about my above statement about this story having been written in 2005, and that "certain things hadn't yet been revealed in the manga at that time, and I have no desire to completely alter my original stories based upon what Rumiko did _after _they were written" but for everyone's future information (I apologize for the unavoidable spoiler), this story contains the off-canon reference of Sesshoumaru's mother having died, and I am _well aware_ of the fact that she was** LATER **revealed to still be alive. Everyone is sooooooo into the whole 'mating for life' shtick, but Sesshoumaru's mom still being alive really throws a monkey wrench into that concept, so for my older stories that had contained the 'mating for life' angle, I've left the details alone. People are repeatedly informing me through reviews and e-mail that she's still alive as if I didn't already know that, from barely just now watching the completed anime no less, which I actually find more than a little insulting when I read the manga in its entirety over two and a half years ago. I know the actual Inuyasha storyline inside and out, but for those of you who don't understand, when an author's note says the story is 'off-canon' that means that certain events are DIFFERENT from how they are portrayed in the manga/anime. I apologize for venting this on all of you, but I find that for me, nothing is more offensive than an idiot thinking _I'm _an idiot. I don't mean to come off as insulting, but it's been an ongoing issue on this and other sites so I'm just getting sick of it.

Now as for the rest of you, the ones who would have stumbled upon that reveal in the story and immediately recognized it as part of the off-canon aspects I had been referring to, I thank you for your continued devotion. Even though the Inuyasha story was completed back in 2008, I still have a ton of fic ideas to write, so with all of your support, I'm going to be around for a _long _time to come. :-)

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Chapter 1 – In the blink of an eye...

It was an afternoon not unlike any other in modern-day Tokyo, as four teenage girls made their way up the sidewalk towards the shrine district, three of the schoolgirls having decided to walk their other friend home after class; a friend they hardly got to see any more those days because she was always out sick.

"What do you want to do after class tomorrow, Kagome?" Ayumi asked innocently, unaware that Kagome would be coming down with another 'illness' after school the following day.

"Tomorrow?" the miko asked hesitantly.

_Like Inuyasha would let me do anything… _she thought bitterly._ He'd be at my window in a heartbeat, wondering why I hadn't returned immediately after school, like he 'told' me to_…

Releasing a near-silent sigh, Kagome replied with... "I'm not sure, don't know if I'll be able to do anything tomorrow."

Eri, as perceptive as she was, asked her friend with an air of concern in her voice, "Is it that jealous boyfriend of yours?"

Yuka took that moment to chime in as well.

"Yeah, Kagome, you never seem to have your freedom any more."

"No no no, it's not that..." the miko tried to bluff. "I just…" _Oh, who am I kidding? They hit it right on the nose!_

The sudden sound of screeching tires immediately broke Kagome from her train of thought, and looking up, the miko felt a rush of dread overtake her at the sight of a car barreling down the street, fish-tailing out of control and heading right for them. It wouldn't stop in time.

Instinctively, she lunged at her friends, pushing them to safety at the last possible second. Unfortunately, Kagome was too slow to save herself. In what seemed like slow motion, the miko did her best to dive out of the path of danger, but the car's front end struck her thigh. She flew several feet back, tumbling and rolling as she hit the ground screaming in a mixture of panic and pain. Some eyewitnesses swore they saw a pink light emanating from the teenager before she lost consciousness.

In that same moment, or five hundred years earlier, depending on your perspective, Inuyasha's ears swiveled towards the direction of the well, as he sat perched on the fence that lined Kaede's village.

_What the hell…? _he silently questioned in his mind.

Something was nagging at him all of a sudden, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. An almost unbearable wave of desire to go see Kagome had just come over him, but arguing with himself in that moment, the hanyou remembered quite clearly how after several minutes of 'negotiating' he and the miko had reached the agreement of allowing her five days in her world, which meant that she would be returning the following afternoon. If he showed up in her time early there would be hell to pay.

_Feh…just who orders who around here? _he thought bitterly, realizing that for all his posturing and demands, when it came to Kagome returning to her world beyond the well, she always got the last word, even if that word was 'osuwari'.

Diligently doing his best to ignore the bizarre and unexpected longing to go see Kagome a day early, Inuyasha jumped down from his perch and decided to go pester the kitsune.

Kagome felt like her world was spinning. Her head refused to focus, causing lights and sounds to dance around her at incomprehensible speeds.

Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the mayhem.

"Kagome? Kagome darling, can you hear me?"

_Mama_…

Hearing her mother call her name, and with such panic in her voice, it enabled the miko to claw her way to the surface of her mind, as she slowly regained consciousness.

As Kagome gradually rejoined the world of the living, the first thought to enter her head was… _Why am I lying on the street?_ Which was quickly followed by, _What…what happened?_

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone counting "One, two, three…" and she felt her body being joisted, followed by the sensation of being hoisted off of the ground. She tried to move, but after a moment of struggling realized that the reason she couldn't was because she was strapped to a board. _I must really be hurt…_

"M-mama…? Wha...what…happened?" she asked groggily, her voice raspy.

"Shhhh, just rest, dear." her mother replied, tears of joy that her daughter was still alive streaming down her face. When she'd first received Eri's panic-stricken phone call…

"You're going to the hospital." Mrs. Higurashi told her daughter then, shaking the could-have-beens free from her mind. "They'll take good care of you, and I'll see you again real soon, okay?"

Kagome managed to mumble "Okay…" before drifting off to sleep once more.

Later that evening, back in the Sengoku jida, the peaceful tranquility that would ordinarily be felt around Kaede's fire-pit was unceremoniously broken by the persistent nervous pacing of an adolescent inu-hanyou, as he refused to settle down for the evening as the rest of his companions were attempting to do.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked after a moment, unable to ignore his friend's clear agitation. Was he sensing danger near by?

Sango, who was also more than a little concerned by that point, elaborated where the houshi left off, asking next, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know." Inuyasha replied hesitantly, temporarily stopping his unconscious pacing as he gazed in the direction of his friends. "I've just had the strangest feeling since this afternoon, and it won't go away."

"What type of feeling?" Miroku asked then, his curiosity peaked. Usually, Inuyasha would have just shrugged off their questions, plopping himself down with his arms crossed once he realized they had been aware of his pacing. To actually confirm that he was feeling uneasy meant that whatever was troubling him shouldn't be taken lightly.

"It…" the hanyou began hesitantly, before slouching his shoulders and just deciding to come clean, "…has to do with Kagome."

"Kagome, you say?" Kaede chimed in in that moment, earning herself a glare from the inu-hanyou for butting in.

Still, after only a moment, Inuyasha dropped his angry façade and allowed his true worry to show, as he answered, "Yeah…" Finally plopping himself down next to his companions around the fire, he added, "Ever since earlier, it's like I really wanna go see her, like just to make sure she's okay or something."

Miroku and Sango both stared wide-eyed at their friend, nearly in shock that he had actually admitted to such a thing, and without even blushing in embarrassment afterwards. Inuyasha only ignored his would-be embarrassment over revealing that he had any sort of feelings for the miko when she was in serious danger, when his natural drive to protect her simply overrode all other instincts.

Realizing how serious the situation actually was, at least from Inuyasha's perspective, it was without any sort of humor or teasing in his voice that Miroku stated, "If you are truly that concerned, then you should simply go and check on her."

"Feh…" Inuyasha answered then. "She ain't due back till tomorrow, and I don't wanna hear her bitchin' if she thinks I've shown up to fetch her a day early."

"Just tell her the truth, that you aren't there to get her but only wanted to see her." Sango reasoned, secretly knowing just how deeply in love with the hanyou Kagome really was, and how much the girl would probably love to hear him confess such a thing.

Shippou's frightened cry of "And what if something's actually happened to her?" was enough to put the hanyou into action.

_Shit! _Inuyasha thought frantically, _I know not to ignore my instincts, damn it! But…_ he tried to argue then for the umpteenth time that day, _She's supposed to be safe in her world_.

"Keh, I'll just check in on her." he answered then, rising to his feet casually in an attempt to not let the others know how worried he really was. "She don't gotta know I'm there, no sense in tasting dirt for no reason." he added as he made his way towards the doorway. "I'll be back soon." he stated, turning to glance in his friends' directions, offering everyone in the hut a quick nod before bounding out the door and heading for the well.

As the mat covering the open doorway fell back into place, Miroku and Sango stared back and forth at each other in silence for a moment, a very, 'What just happened here?' look in their eyes. Shippou was now a nervous wreck, but was attempting to console himself as he spoke with Kirara in the corner, the nekomata diligently meowing in agreement to his thoughts at the appropriate moments. Kaede remained thoughtful, finding Inuyasha's open concern for Kagome less surprising, and honestly, a little more troublesome. Just as the monk and slayer had both realized, the elder miko also knew that Inuyasha's instincts were not to be trifled with. She had not voiced her agreement with Shippou's concern aloud for fear of agitating the hanyou even further, but Kaede did worry that something had actually happened to young Kagome, especially if the thought had been plaguing him for so long, and for reasons that seemed unexplainable on the surface. The elder miko had always thought that there was a connection of sorts between Inuyasha and her sister's reincarnation. She had always believed in the existence of soul mates, so perhaps…perhaps it was never Kikyou whom Inuyasha was meant to be with, but her reincarnation, instead. Kaede only hoped that whatever had happened to Kagome, it wasn't too serious. She knew that there was nothing she could do about it, though, except to pray that everything would turn out all right.

Making his way to the mysterious time portal, the hanyou jumped in without a single thought given to the magic behind how he and Kagome were able to enter each other's worlds, or how they were in fact the only ones who could travel back and forth. His solitary thought revolved around hoping that his gut feeling was wrong, and that when he emerged on Kagome's side of time, he would find the girl up in her room studying.

Making sure that no one was around, Inuyasha carefully exited the well-house and stealthfully made his way across the shrine grounds to the family's home, bounding in a single leap up to the roof edge just outside Kagome's bedroom window. If she were studying he wouldn't bother her; he really didn't want to have to explain to the girl why he had arrived in her time a day early.

_What the hell?_ he thought in confusion upon looking in her window.

Kagome's mother was in her room, going through Kagome's things. She was grabbing clothing and other items, and packing them all into a bag, though not the yellow backpack the girl always brought with her into his time. The elder Higurashi woman also seemed fairly upset.

_Crap! __Did__ something happen to Kagome? _

Hastily sliding the window open, Inuyasha jumped into Kagome's room, his soft footfalls on the tatami flooring startling the already frantic woman.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"What's happened to Kagome?" he asked immediately, adding, "Where is she? What's going on?" before the woman could even get a word in edgewise.

Mrs. Higurashi was understandably taken aback. How had he even known that something had happened? But shaking that quandary free, Kagome's mother could easily see the genuine concern for her daughter's welfare that Inuyasha held in his eyes, concern that she had never seen in him before. But then again, Kagome had never been so seriously injured before, or at least not in their time. Had such a thing happened before, back in the past? Had the hanyou boy standing before her shown that same level of concern for her daughter before, during previous instances that she had never been made aware of?

Shaking that quandary free as well, it was with a saddened countenance that the hanyou had never before seen her express, either, that Mrs. Higurashi shakily answered, "Kagome was hit by a drunk driver."

"A what?" he asked, not sure he understood her right.

He knew what the word _drunk _meant, but as far as he knew, the term 'driver' was given to certain people in the farming industry, like those who drove cattle, for instance. A drunken farmer had hit Kagome? But that didn't sound right. First of all, it didn't sound serious enough for her mother to be as upset as she was. Second, Inuyasha knew there were no longer any farms of that type in Kagome's world, or at least not right where she lived. The farms were elsewhere, she'd explained to him once, the supplies being taken to the cities for people to purchase in that giant indoor marketplace where she gets his ramen. So okay, if that wasn't it, then what was?

With a heavy sigh, it was in that moment that Mrs. Higurashi explained to the sixteenth century hanyou, "A 'drunk driver' is what we call a person driving a car while drunk."

She didn't know if he would understand that answer, either, but he understood her well enough.

"A car…?" he began slowly, "You mean those noisy, smelly machine-things you people travel around in?"

He knew what cars were, and they were scary.

Kagome's mother answered with a quiet "Yes…" while unconsciously fiddling with the zipper on the bag she'd packed for her daughter. She didn't know how long Kagome would be in the hospital, but she wanted to go ahead and bring her daughter a change of clothes for when she was ready for them.

"Why would someone 'drive' one of those things while drunk?" Inuyasha asked incredulously, having no idea how a car actually worked, but knowing enough to know that you shouldn't be in control of one of those damn things if you were fucking drunk at the time.

"I don't know." Mrs. Higurashi replied with a sigh, taking a seat on the edge of her daughter's bed. "Doing so is not allowed, and people can get in a lot of trouble if they get caught doing it, but some people do it anyway. They just don't think any harm will come of it; they think they are still sober enough to keep in control."

Inuyasha could tell that the woman before him was nearing the point of tears, and he sat down on the bed beside her in that moment, in an attempt to provide some small level of comfort. He couldn't stand seeing a woman cry. Still, he had to know…

"Where is Kagome now? Is she…all right?"

Mrs. Higurashi caught the choke in Inuyasha's voice. Was he fighting back tears as well? Thankfully, her daughter _would_ be all right.

"She's at the hospital." Mrs. Higurashi began, explaining, "Kagome was very lucky. Most of the time when a car hits a pedestrian, a person walking along side the street…" she added before he could question her unknown word, "…the person walking receives much worse injuries than what Kagome has. Sometimes…" she admitted, "…they even die from their injuries."

Inuyasha didn't know what to say or think. He'd seen the cars of Kagome's world from time to time, like when he had followed her scent to that 'school' place of hers, so he could envision fairly easily what would likely happen to a person walking along the side of the road should somebody drunkenly careen their giant metal horseless cart right into them. That had happened to Kagome?

_I'll bet it happened right when I first got that feeling to go through the well_._ Damn it! _he cursed in his head. _Why didn't I listen to my instincts! _

Then again, the accident had already taken place by the time he'd felt anything about it, so even if he had ventured into Kagome's time earlier that afternoon upon first feeling his desire to do so, he still wouldn't have been able to do anything to _prevent_ Kagome from getting hurt. Why and how he had even received any sort of feeling about the accident in the first place went completely unnoticed as he frantically asked Mrs. Higurashi, "What is this 'hospital'? Where is it? How do I get there?" His heart was racing as fast as his mouth.

"It's a place where the doctors are…" she answered his first question, "…to treat the sick and injured."

Seeing Inuyasha nod in understanding, she noted how his entire body seemed to stiffen as if he planned on leaping right out the window as soon as she gave him the directions.

"You can't visit her right now." she added regretfully. His ears drooped dejectedly at her words, but she continued nonetheless. "She's in intensive care. I'm just taking her some supplies."

Mrs. Higurashi couldn't bear to see the hurt and rejection in Inuyasha's eyes, so quickly saying the first thing that came to mind that would cheer him up, even if only a little, she added, "But if you'd like to stay the night here, then I can take you to her tomorrow."

The hanyou's ears did perk up marginally at that, as he met her eyes with his own and answered, "Yes, I'll do that." As an afterthought, he added, "Thank you."

Mrs. Higurashi's reply was in the form of a warm, loving smile and embrace, as she told the boy to sit tight while she went to deliver Kagome her few things.

Inuyasha spent the night in Kagome's room, though he couldn't rightfully say that he got any sleep. He tried to, allowing her scent to wash over him, plus the knowledge that she was going to be all right, but sleep still evaded him with a barrage of negative thoughts buzzing around in his head. Though he kind of understood what had happened, he hadn't realized that there was so much danger in her time.

_How can I protect her when she won't let me accompany her in her world?_ he thought hopelessly, before promptly scolding himself. _Baka, I should have just followed her anyway! _

Now, as the first rays of morning began streaming in through her bedroom window, one thought above all others refused to leave him be. _What if she doesn't recover?_

She just had to recover! Her mother had told him that she was going to be all right, so then that was the truth, right? Her mother would never lie to him about something like that, he was sure. Inhaling deeply, Inuyasha allowed Kagome's scent to fully engulf his senses. It was the only thing that had kept him sane during his miserable wait until morning. He'd forgotten all about traveling back through the well to let the others know what had happened. He had to see Kagome with his own eyes; smell her fresh scent and not just the lingering traces of what remained in her otherwise empty bedroom. He wouldn't be able to do anything else until he both saw and smelled for himself that she was _truly _all right.

Shortly after sunrise, Mrs. Higurashi quietly peaked her head into Kagome's room, only to discover Inuyasha sitting wide awake on her daughter's bed, arms and legs crossed, his ears perking up as he lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"Oh good, you're up." she stated gently, and with a genuine smile on her lips. "If you're ready, we can get going. Here…" she added, handing Inuyasha a baseball cap, which he wordlessly took from her outstretched hand and placed upon his head.

Seeing him ready to follow her out of the room, Mrs. Higurashi thought of something else in that moment.

"Oh…" she began hesitantly. "…and I'm afraid you'll have to leave your sword here. They won't allow any weapons."

She mentally cringed at the look he gave her, somewhere between a glare of disgust and the wide-eyed look of panic-stricken horror. She knew he never went anywhere without his sword. Still, after only a moment of internal debate, Mrs. Higurashi was both relieved and somewhat amazed to see him silently remove the sheathed katana from his obi, before gently laying it down on Kagome's bed.

"Whatever it takes." he mumbled quietly as he brushed his fingers along the scabbard, before quickly pulling himself away from the sword and standing up straight to stare in her direction.

Choosing not to comment on what a difficult moment that had obviously been for him, she turned and headed out of her daughter's room, hearing him instantly fall into step behind her. Once they made it to the genkan, she faced another challenge, as she opened the getabako and held up a pair of simple zori sandals for his inspection.

The inu-hanyou crinkled his nose at the sight of the offending footwear, and Mrs. Higurashi's heart really went out to the boy, knowing he never wore shoes.

"I'm afraid you can't be barefoot in the hospital, either." she stated sympathetically.

"Keh." he muttered, grabbing the sandals without another word.

Inuyasha heard Kagome's mother mumble "Sorry…" under her breath as he slipped the horrid things upon his feet, but looking back up to meet her eyes in that moment, the hanyou informed her, "I've waited all night to see Kagome. When I said I'd do whatever it takes, I meant it."

She offered him a warm smile, and it was finally in that moment that the hanyou noticed how much calmer the woman seemed to be that morning. She didn't smell of suppressed tears as she had the night before, before she'd left to see the doctors currently treating Kagome. Her improvement in mood could only be a good thing.

"How is she?" he asked the girl's mother in that moment, as they made their way outside.

"Oh, it's a miracle!" Mrs. Higurashi beamed, kicking herself for having forgotten to inform the boy of the good news. "She escaped with just a broken leg and a mild concussion." she informed him then.

But that didn't sound like a miracle to Inuyasha. While he had no idea what a 'concussion' was, he honestly hadn't heard much of anything else after the first part of what she'd said.

"Her leg is _broken?" _he questioned frantically, horror clearly written across his face. Of course, in Inuyasha's time, such an injury would be far more serious, for a human at least. _He'd _had plenty of broken bones in his life, but that was different.

"She's lucky that's _all _that's broken." her mother countered then, informing the boy, "According to the eyewitness reports, with how fast the car had been traveling when it struck her, and how far she tumbled as a result, she could have very easily suffered from massive internal injuries, not to mention _severe_ head trauma. To come out of it all with only a mild concussion and one broken leg is miraculous indeed."

_That's my Kagome… _he thought then, a twinge of pride sparkling in his eyes. _Always much tougher than she looks…_

"Still…" he voiced after a moment, his uncertainty clear. "Can you guys heal broken legs properly?" he asked, knowing that Kagome's world was more advanced than his own, but having no real idea of what could or couldn't be done by her standards. "Will she be able to walk right?" In his time, a broken leg, while not typically life threatening, usually resulted in the person having a limp and needing a walking stick for the rest of their life. With their mission to collect the shards and slay Naraku...

Smiling at the boy whom she realized in that moment was truly from another time, indeed, Mrs. Higurashi readily assured him, "In our time, Inuyasha, a broken leg is not that serious. Yes, Kagome will be able to walk correctly. It'll take some time to heal, but then she'll be good as new."

With that worry out of the way, Inuyasha followed Kagome's mother around to the back of the property, where she had the family car parked. He had a few reservations about getting inside the contraption, but knowing that it was the only way, he bit his tongue before he could offer any form of protest out loud; he would keep his vow to do whatever it took to see his Kagome again.

Mrs. Higurashi noticed his momentary hesitance to get inside the car, and immediately realized that he had never ridden inside of one before, but seeing how he chose to swallow his discomfort she kept her mouth shut, allowing him to think his sudden nervousness had gone unnoticed.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Inyasha's sensitive nose was immediately overwhelmed with the scents of blood, sickness, death, sterilization and medicine. With so many people hurt in Kagome's time, it was a wonder she hadn't become injured sooner; her time was definitely not as safe as he had previously thought it to be.

As they approached the front desk, Mrs. Higurashi quietly instructed Inuyasha to just let her do all the talking and to follow her lead. He readily agreed. Mrs. Higurashi then told the lady at the counter who she was and whom she was there to see, and was quickly given a room number and brief instructions on where exactly in the hospital Kagome could be found. Thanking the lady at the front desk, Mrs. Higurashi took Inuyasha by the hand as she made to lead him through the hospital corridors. He glanced down at their joined hands in confusion, but upon glancing back up into her eyes, Kagome's mother offered him a warm, understanding smile, and suddenly all of the anxiety he had been feeling just whooshed out of him. She squeezed his hand in motherly comfort, and he understood and appreciated the gesture. Just how many mothers from Kagome's time would bother offering comfort to a wild hanyou from five hundred years in the past? It was no mystery to him, where Kagome's unending supply of kindness and acceptance had come from. Offering her hand the tiniest of squeezes in return, Inuyasha did his best to articulate his thanks, as they made their way through a labyrinth of blaring lights and nauseating odors.

They passed door after door, until suddenly entering a set of doors that seemed to go nowhere at all. Kagome's mother explained to him briefly what an elevator was as they rode the device up to the second floor. Then they passed by more doors, and more doors still.

_This place is freakin' huge! _Inuyasha thought with a morbid sense of amazement. That Kagome's people had built such a grand structure for all of the healers of her giant village to work in together was truly amazing. That they had that many people who required treatment at any given time was somewhat distressing.

The hanyou was pulled from his thoughts when a very familiar scent suddenly wormed its way into his sinuses, immediately stamping out all other scents in the entire building as the canine in him allowed his mind to hone in on that one smell alone.

"Kagome! She's in this room!" he suddenly bellowed, releasing Mrs. Higurashi's hand as he ran the last few feet down the corridor to her room like an eager child.

"I didn't know you could read these types of numbers." she commented with a chuckle in regard to Western numerals, as she caught up with him outside of the closed door that led to her daughter.

"I can't, but there's no mistaking that scent." he declared matter-of-factly, his chest puffing out with confidence as he waited for Mrs. Higurashi to open the door.

Offering the boy an amused smile, Mrs. Higurashi quietly opened the door to her daughter's hospital room.

Inuyasha gasped.

Kagome was asleep at the moment, and from the hanyou's point of view, she was trapped in some sort of torture chamber. Her entire left leg was incased in stone, with only her bare foot immerging at the end, some sort of harness apparatus tied around the limb and holding it up into the air at an unnatural angle. Next to her on the right was a tall shiny metal 'thing' with a clear bag of liquid attached to it, with vines coming forth from the bag and entering Kagome's flesh just above her right hand. Behind that device was another tall metal 'thing' had vines that came down and disappeared into Kagome's gown, and that machine was making the most annoying 'beeping' sound that Inuyasha had ever heard. It only took him a moment to realize that those 'beeps' were in perfect timing with Kagome's heart beat, and he decided to himself that that must be what that machine was for, allowing the humans to hear her heart. Okay…and the liquid stuff was…*sniff sniff*…he hadn't a clue.

Seeing her like that made Inuyasha feel more pain than he had ever thought possible. How could this have happened?


	2. Road to Recovery

Chapter 2 – Road to Recovery

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Upon closer examination of Kagome's sleeping form, Inuyasha decided that the miko seemed peaceful enough. He could tell that she was truly only asleep, and not because they had given her any herbs to _make _her sleep. It must have been awfully frightening, what she had just gone through, so he couldn't blame her for feeling exhausted after surviving such an ordeal. Her body seemed relatively undamaged except for her leg, he noted with relief, and she even still wore their jewel shards around her neck, Mrs. Higurashi having informed the doctors not to remove her 'necklace' as it was precious to her.

Like he gave a damn about the jewel shards in that moment.

"I have to fill out some paperwork downstairs." Inuyasha suddenly heard Mrs. Higurashi say, pulling him from his thoughts. "I'll go ahead and let you have some time alone with her for a few minutes, I'll be back to get you in a little while."

Inuyasha turned to meet the woman's gaze at her words, the look of concern he'd had in his eyes the night before now replaced with one of disappointment. "She can't come with us?" he asked quietly.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." she replied sympathetically. "She has to stay in observation for a couple of days because of her concussion, but she should be able to come home after that."

"I forgot you said she also had a con…cus…sion." he stuttered through, asking, "What is that?"

"Basically," Kagome's mother replied. "It's damage to the head, caused by a sudden and hard impact." Seeing his eyes widen in panic she quickly assured the boy "But don't worry! Kagome has a _very mild_ concussion, and should be just fine." Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Higurashi concluded with, "The doctors said they'd never seen anything like it. From how she was described to have flown through the air, they said it's amazing she survived at all."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped, then shifting his gaze to look over at the sleeping miko, he thought… _That's my girl_.

After Mrs. Higurashi left the room, Inuyasha went over to Kagome's bedside, taking a seat in the uncomfortable chair that was provided for visitors.

"Kagome?" he voiced aloud, though he knew she was still sleeping._ Fuck Kagome, I'm so sorry! If I ever find the bastard that did this to you_…

He was pulled from his thoughts when he suddenly heard her speak.

"Inu…yasha…" she muttered quietly.

Startled, Inuyasha scooted himself closer and took her hand. "Yes Kagome, I'm here." he assured her.

Kagome remained silent, although she furrowed her brow, her body moving slightly as her muscles attempted to react the whatever images were playing out behind her eyelids. It didn't take him long to realize she was still asleep and merely dreaming, although along with that realization suddenly came the only possible explanation for why she had just spoken his name.

_She's dreaming of __me__? _

The thought caused a funny feeling to grow in the pit of his stomach.

"Inu…yasha…why…" she murmured then, nearly a whisper.

_I wonder what she's dreaming about…_ he thought in mild concern, not liking the way she was suddenly scrunching her face in discomfort.

"…osuwari…"

*THUD*

_Damn it! Not again! _he silently cursed, waiting impatiently for the spell to wear off so he could pry his face off the cold, sterile floor.

That wasn't the first time Kagome's sleep-talking had smashed his face into the ground, although her next words wiped all anger from his expression.

"He…chose Kikyou…"

Inuyasha's heart sank at the absolute rejection in her voice. He'd heard it from the others before, that it hurt Kagome's feelings whenever went to see Kikyou, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. Quickly deciding that he didn't want to listen to her dreaming about her heartache any longer, Inuyasha moved to wake Kagome up, but before he could wake her, he heard her mumble…

"Naraku…no…I won't…betray…I love…Inuyasha…"

_She loves me? _he thought, his hand frozen in place above her shoulder as his eyes widened in shock. Sure, he might have had his suspicions, but to hear her say it out loud like that..._ Okay, that's it_… he decided then. "Hey…" he said aloud, gently shaking her shoulder, "Kagome, wake up."

Said miko slowly opened her eyes, surprised by the vision before her. "Inu…yasha? Is that…is that you?" she asked groggily.

The image of her hanyou friend standing before her looked slightly off, but it took her brain a moment to process the addition of the baseball cap. Of course…she was at the hospital, Kagome remembered then. He always wore that hat in her time whenever he left the shrine grounds. It all made sense now.

"Yes, it's me. I'm here." he assured her in that moment.

The next most obvious question came to mind as she asked him sincerely, "How?"

She hoped he hadn't gone off leaping from building to building. She could just invision him climbing into the hospital via some window somewhere, and the trouble with security that would cause should they find him.

When he answered her with, "Your mother 'drove' me here in your 'car' thing." Kagome's worries were immediately put to rest, as her expression melted into one of compassion at the notion of just what he must have gone through when he'd first found out.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha." she mumbled quietly then. "You must have been so worried when I was late."

"Actually," the hanyou corrected her in that moment. "You aren't due back until this afternoon."

Kagome was immediately confused again. "It's still morning?" she asked, seeing his nod. "But, then how did you…?"

Blushing, Inuyasha wasn't sure how to go about explaining this to the girl lying before him, but considering that the two of them were still alone for the time being, he figured it wouldn't hurt anything to just be honest.

"It's the strangest thing, really…" he began slowly. "I just…had to come early. Something told me you were in trouble, Kagome." Sighing, he added… "I'm just sorry I didn't get here in time."

Eyes widening at his unexpected admittance, that he had somehow sensed that she'd been in trouble, the miko immediately latched onto the last thing he said, and realizing he had apologized, as if he truly felt guilty for what had happened to her, Kagome immediately assured him, "It wasn't your fault."

He just snorted, before responding with, "Yeah, well, it'll never happen again. _That's _for sure."

Looking her right in the eyes, he stated matter-of-factly, "Whenever you have to come here for your 'tests' I'm not letting you out of my sight, and as soon as school is over for the day, I'm bringing you right back home!"

It came out a little harsher than he'd meant it to, but he was scared shitless, and he usually projected his fright as anger, having the survival instinct imbedded deeply within him to never show his fear.

Kagome was more than a little perturbed by his sudden attitude, though.

"Now wait just a minute…" she began, her own voice growing more authoritative. "If you think I'm just gonna stop having a life in my own time, you've got another think coming!"

"Having a_ life?"_ he barked at her incredulously. Was she serious? "Kagome, you almost _stopped _having a life _altogether!"_

The miko's growing anger stopped dead in its tracts upon registering the unmistakable pain in his voice. Then her eyes widened in disbelief as she caught sight of what she could almost swear looked like tears developing in his eyes.

Realizing it himself, he quickly turned around, showing her his back. Nobody was _ever_ supposed to see a man cry.

"Inuyasha?"

Her tone was hesitant and shaky, all of the passion from their growing argument drained from her voice. "I'm…I'm sorry." she apologized dejectedly, adding sincerely, "I never meant to worry you."

"Feh." he grumbled. "Why would _I_ worry!" he argued in denial, his back still to her. "I knew you'd be fine…and besides-"

"Oh, _excuse _me..." she interrupted then, her voice dripping with sarcasm as her anger sprung back full force at his words. "For a second there, I thought you might've actually been concerned for my well-being!"

Inuyasha couldn't pull off the 'cold' act any longer, and turning back to face her in that moment, he made no move to hide the tear marks on his cheeks. "How could I _not _be?" he snapped as more tears fell. "I mean, _kami_ Kagome…if you…if you would have…"

Choking up at the thought, he turned away from her once more, frantically wiping at his eyes when his ears registered the sound of approaching footsteps.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, and she found herself wanting to cry as well. She wanted to cry in anguish over what had happened to her, and she wanted to cry in relief that she was in fact still alive. She wanted to apologize for snapping at him, and for the pain she had clearly caused him by forcing him to worry about her in the first place. Not that it had truly been her fault, but she couldn't really blame him for his desire to supervise her activities in her time from that point onward. She also hadn't forgotten about his admittance that he had actually somehow sensed that she had been hurt, and while she didn't dare question him about that fact right then, it was enough to comfort her somewhat, to know that he was actually connected to her in such a way.

The miko was pulled from her thoughts when there was a sudden yet gentle knock on the door, followed by her mother's voice asking... "May I come in?"

Inuyasha had successfully dried his tears by that point, so nodding in Kagome's direction that he was ready, it was the girl who called in answer, "Yes, Mama!"

"Oh, Kagome, you're awake!" her mother exclaimed happily as she opened the door. "How are you feeling?"

The teenager immediately went back into apology mode, stating, "I'm sorry for all of the trouble I've caused…"

"Nonsense!" her mother replied without missing a beat. "Darling, what are mother's for?" she asked with a smile.

"Did they say when I could go home?" Kagome asked then, changing the subject.

"You should be released by late tomorrow." Mrs. Higurashi informed her daughter then, adding, "They said your CT scans all came back wonderful."

Inuyasha had no idea what a CT scan was, but figured in that moment that it didn't really matter. The bottom line was that things looked good, and she would be leaving the hospital soon.

"Inuyasha," Kagome asked suddenly. "Do the others know what happened? Sango and Miroku and…?"

Inuyasha hadn't even remembered their other friends until she mentioned them in that moment.

"What?" he asked at first, before realizing… "Oh, _crap_, no they don't!"

Muttering to himself, the hanyou went on about how he had told the others he was just going to go check in on her, and that he wasn't supposed to be gone for very long.

"Well, then let me take you back to the shrine so that you can get your other friends updated on Kagome's condition." Mrs. Higurashi stated gently. "She'll be home tomorrow night, so if you wanted to come back then, you're more than welcome."

Kagome smiled at her mother, her eyes saying, "Thank you." But Inuyasha said it out loud in that moment, startling the miko for the second time since noticing his tears.

As the two of them left to allow Kagome to get some more rest while she could, the miko found her thoughts plagued with images of Inuyasha, crying and fearful that she might die. She very easily could have, she realized, and Kagome vowed in that moment not to fight him on his desire to shadow her in her world from that point onward. She knew the only reason she felt as safe as she did in the Sengoku jidai was because she always had Inuyasha there to protect her, so why _not _have that protection guaranteed against the dangers of her own world, as well? It also hadn't gone unnoticed to the girl that he had failed to mention a single thing about the jewel shards, about how she needed to be more careful because she was the only one who could purify the jewel, or how he couldn't continue on in their quest without her because he needed her to see the shards. No, he had been concerned for _her_, he had cried for her, and she would not be forgetting that any time soon.

...

Back at the Higurashi shrine, Inuyasha wasted no time with discarding the hat and sandals he'd been forced to wear at the hospital. Heading up to Kagome's room to retrieve the Tetsusaiga, he let the girl's mother know that he would be back the following evening before headed outside to the Bone Eater's Well and back to his own century.

As soon as he emerged on his side of time, before he could even leap out of the well, he heard Shippou's immediate shout of, "Inuyasha's back!"

Quickly vacating the well, he observed with a mild feeling of guilt as Miroku and Sango both came running at the kitsune's words, indicating they hadn't been too far from the well's proximity. They had probably been waiting near the time portal, only just then deciding to head back to Kaede's for a while.

"What took so long?" Shippou asked Inuyasha in that moment, his voice full of worry rather than accusation.

"Is Kagome all right?" Sango asked next, before he could answer Shippou's question.

Miroku could easily see the truth in the hanyou's eyes, and added, "Your intuition was correct, I presume?"

Inuyasha just stood there for a moment longer, unsure of how to tell his friends the truth, though his expression said it all for the taijiya.

"Oh gods…" Sango murmured then. "She's not…she's not..." She couldn't finish the question, but fortunately, she didn't have to.

Finally finding his voice, Inuyasha informed the slayer, "She'll be…okay, but she _was_ hurt pretty badly."

"I knew it!" Shippou bellowed, as the kit started to cry.

"How badly?" Miroku asked seriously.

"She hit her head…" he began, adding, "But apparently that's not too serious. Her worst injury is a broken leg."

"**Broken leg!" **everyone yelled in unison.

Of course, in their day, a broken leg could theoretically end up proving fatal, if not tended to properly, though they didn't know it was actually small chips of bone fragments traveling through the bloodstream to the brain that caused 'broken bone sickness'. Even though such a drastic end was rare, most people with a broken leg were usually never able to walk properly again. Setting a leg was one of the hardest bones to set, and any movement, like when the person had to relieve him or herself, could cause the splint to shift, and dislodge the set bones.

Inuyasha easily understood their panic, having originally shared in it, himself, so he was quick to reassure them in that moment… "Don't worry…" His voice was calm and collected, which was quite unusual for the hanyou, actually. "Apparently, they have new ways of setting broken bones in her time." he explained, adding, "Her entire leg was in what they call a 'cast', which her mother said was like liquid stone they poured around the limb, after making sure the bone was set correctly, and then this liquid dries, making it so that her leg is incased in stone, which prevents any chance of the bone shifting until the limb heals. Then they can cut through the 'cast' and remove it." After seeing their understanding, yet confused faces, he stated more simply, "Kagome should be back to normal once her leg heals."

"How long will _that_ take?" Shippou asked impatiently.

"Keh, bones themselves don't heal any faster for humans in her time than they do for humans in this time…" he muttered, hating this next part almost as badly as he was sure the kit was going to. After all, at least _he _would be spending the time _with _Kagome. Shippou still looked confused, apparently having no idea how long humans took to heal from an injury that severe, so it was in that moment that he dropped the bomb. "She won't be back for over a month."

"A month?" Shippou asked with a new round of tears forming in his eyes.

"Do you suggest we continue our search for Naraku without her?" Miroku asked in that moment.

"I don't think things will be the same around here without her…" Sango mumbled sadly to herself.

"You three can do whatever you want." Inuyasha stated suddenly, adding bluntly, "I'm going back."

"To her time?" Miroku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, she has our shards…" he started lamely, "Yeah…and I could never ask her to give them to me, she might misunderstand, so…" he rambled, blushing, "…and…and there was a youkai in her time after the shards once. She can't properly defend herself with a broken leg, and…"

Miroku lifted a hand to stop his hanyou friend's embarrassed ramblings. "It's okay, Inuyasha, you don't need to explain."

Miroku then gave Sango a slight glance, which made her flash an agreeing smirk in return.

Inuyasha caught the look passed between them and wasn't too pleased.

"Whatever you two are thinking, you're _wrong_, I just…just…"

He was saved by an innocent kitsune child tugging on his sleeve, as the boy said, "Tell Kagome I love her and I'll miss her…and to hurry up and get better so she can come back."

Inuyasha looked down at the brave child, knowing how hard it was going to be for him to be separated from Kagome for so long. "Keh, you got it, runt." he said with a small smile, bending down to ruffle the boy's hair.

They all headed back to Kaede's in that moment, to inform the old miko of what had happened to Kagome, and also because Inuyasha wouldn't be departing again for Kagome's world until the following evening. In the mean time, he wanted the old miko to prepare a few healing herbs for him to bring back with him.

As they made their way through the forest that bore his name, nobody noticed the fifth presence that had been silently observing them since the kitsune's initial shout of Inuyasha's arrival.

_So, my reincarnation becomes injured, and he wishes to remain by her side, as if she were the one who cares for him, as if she were…me_.


	3. The Vengeful Miko

Chapter 3 – The Vengeful Miko

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The next morning, everyone got up and spent a good part of the day preparing gift packs for Kagome.

Shippou made her several drawings with his crayon set, while Kaede and Inuyasha gathered herbs in the field, the elderly miko instructing him on how everything should be prepared once he had them in Kagome's time. Miroku used some of his blank ofuda slips and drew out an assortment of prayer wards for a fast and healthy recovery, as well as protection against evil, should a youkai from her time truly seek the shards. He made sure the wording of his protective sutra was very specific, so that none of them would accidentally cause any harm to Inuyasha, who would be carrying them through the well. The houshi had made his wards to only protect against _evil_, and while their hanyou friend was many things, 'evil' was not one of them. Using a sheet from Shippou's modern-day sketchpad, Miroku also put to paper a personal letter that Shippou dictated to him, the kitsune not knowing how to write, himself. Sango could write, and prepared her own letter as well from another blank sheet from the kit's sketchpad. Inuyasha had agreed to play mail carrier, stating that he would return briefly every few days or so, so that everyone could exchange letters. He was sure Kagome would want to write to them, as well.

It was while Inuyasha and Kaede were just finishing up in the herb fields that Kikyou's shinidamachuu suddenly made their presence known at the edge of the forest.

_Crap, this is bad timing_.Inuyasha thought, mentally cringing._ Sorry Kikyou…_

Kaede saw the unholy serpents as well, and asked the hanyou in that moment, "Inuyasha, do ye intend to answer my sister's call?"

Inuyasha's ears lowered a bit at her question, though he could understand the elderly miko's concerns. It was with conviction in his voice and honesty in his eyes that he met Kaede's gaze with his own before answering, "Not now, no. I've gotta get these things to Kagome, and see how she's doing." He paused, then added… "If you see Kikyou after I'm gone, tell her I'll be back in a few days. We can talk then."

Kaede nodded in understanding, hiding the fact that she was actually surprised by his decision. To her knowledge, Inuyasha had never before put Kagome's importance before her sister, though under the circumstances, perhaps it wasn't so surprising, after all. To her knowledge, Kagome had also never before been injured during any of the times that Kikyou had summoned him.

Ignoring the shinidamachuu, Inuyasha made his way back with Kaede to her hut, where the others were already waiting with their gift packs for him to take with him through the well. Kaede took a moment to properly package the herbs they had collected, and then added that bundle to his load, as well.

Gathering everything into a saddlebag, Inuyasha thought in passing… _I should have brought Kagome's backpack with me_.Oh well, it would be something he would make sure to do next time.

Heading out of the hut with the promise that he would relay all of their messages to Kagome, and that he would be back in a few days with her messages for them, it wasn't until Kaede presumed the hanyou was most likely out of earshot that she hesitantly informed the others of Kikyou's sudden appearance. Just as Inuyasha had developed an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach when he had subconsciously become aware of Kagome's disaster in her world, Kaede could now not shake the sudden unease she felt at the notion that Kikyou had appeared and was summoning Inuyasha. It was simply too great a coincidence, and the elder miko feared what would be her deceased sister's reaction should the undead miko realize that the hanyou had every intention of ignoring her summons.

The simple fact that Inuyasha had decided to ignore Kikyou's summons was enough to startle Miroku and Sango, and in that moment they immediately shared in Kaede's concerns, making their own way to the well, if for no other reason than to assure themselves that he had successfully transcended time unscathed.

Said hanyou was nearly at the well when Kikyou's shinidamachuu made their second appearance, coming out of the trees to slither around him eerily. Looking around, it wasn't long before his gaze caught the miko herself, as she approached him quietly.

"Kikyou…this isn't really a good time." he started in that moment, explaining quickly, "Kagome's hurt and I have to take some things to her. I'll be back in a few days, so if you want to hang around the village, we can talk when I get back."

He attempted to move towards the well, but her soul collectors stopped him in that moment, as they slithered around him, holding him in place.

_What the hell…? _he thought in exasperation. _I don't have time for this…_

Looking back in the undead miko's direction, it was in that moment that Kikyou finally spoke, as she held his gaze while stating, "I have not come merely to talk."

"Then what do you want?" he asked impatiently, trying not to sound _too _harsh.

It had become more and more difficult to deal with Kikyou since her resurrection, and not for the first time the hanyou found himself thinking how that never should have happened…Kikyou never should have been brought back to life. He knew she wasn't really the _real _Kikyou, but that false shell of clay and graveyard soil did possess her soul, or at least part of it.

_Kikyou's true soul resides inside Kagome, because she is her reincarnation, although she's __not__ Kikyou…_

Yes, Inuyasha knew that Kagome was not Kikyou, that she could never _be _Kikyou, and the more he got to know the strange girl from the future, the more he found that he actually liked her just the way she was.

"Is it not obvious?" Kikyou asked coldly in that moment, in answer to his question of what it was that she wanted. "I have come for you, Inuyasha."

The way she stated it, so matter-of-factly, left no room for doubt as to what, exactly, she was referring to.

"You can't be serious!" he stated in shock. "You know damn well we haven't found Naraku or completed the fucking jewel yet!"

"Tsk tsk, language, Inuyasha." she replied, asking patronizingly, "Whatever happened to the well-mannered hanyou who would've never dared speak to me with such disrespect?"

"I…" He paused, planning his words very carefully.

_Kagome's never reprimanded me for my language, except around children_… his mind helpfully pointed out, but ignoring all thoughts of Kagome in that moment, he addressed the woman before him with as much courtesy as he usually bestowed upon her as he stated, "Kikyou…you know I cannot die with you until after your death has been properly avenged. Until after I see to the destruction of Naraku, and the Shikon no Tama is put back together properly, so that it can be removed from this world as well."

"Is that the real reason you hesitate?" she asked him skeptically, eyebrow raised, and his composure immediately dissolved, once again revealing the brash adolescent he only ever tried to mask while in her presence. Everyone else accepted him for who he _really _was…especially the girl currently lying bedridden on the other side of the well, awaiting his arrival.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" he snapped, not caring any more if she thought he was being rude.

"You run to my copy from the future, do you not?" Her voice was unaltered, though her eyes were pinched into tighter slits, revealing the anger she truly felt.

Inuyasha felt a little angry himself at her comment. He had stopped comparing Kagome to Kikyou a long time ago.

"She's not your copy." he spat, before doing his best to calm down as he added… "And yes, I'm going to her. Kagome's hurt." he repeated, hoping she would let him go without further argument.

Instead, Kikyou raised an eyebrow, and commented offhandedly… "I see. Pity she didn't die."

_That_ comment sparked anger for Kikyou that Inuyasha had never felt before, not even when she had pinned him to the Goshinboku fifty years ago.

"_What?"_ he asked quietly, almost a whisper. "How could you say something like that?" he demanded to know.

She wasn't fazed, and instead of answering his question, she posed him with one of her own. "When will you realize she is only a cheap imitation, and that I am the real thing?"

Inuyasha wasn't amused; she had picked the wrong time to bad mouth Kagome.

"You're _not_ the real thing…" he stated calmly, practically realizing it himself as the words left his mouth. "You died fifty years ago, and this body you have now is made from bones and dirt, and feeds on the souls of others."

His ears lowered in shame as he saw her expression briefly contort in pain before she could restore her mask of indifference. It hadn't been his intention to be cruel to Kikyou, but why was _she_ suddenly being so cruel? She truly wasn't the Kikyou he used to know. He understood that now more than ever.

"So…" she asked after a moment, in a tone of voice that suggested she already knew the answer. "Do you recant your promise to me, then?"

Inuyasha hadn't been expecting that, and he didn't know what to say in response. Somehow, Kikyou always managed to get under his skin, he realized, as he suddenly found himself babbling like an idiot.

"What? No, Kikyou, never. I…"

Pausing, he took a deep breath, and suddenly realized that trace hints of Kagome's scent still lingered on his person from when he had spent the night before last on her bed. That sweet, calming scent… He knew he needed to make a decision in that moment, and thanks to Kagome's scent, he knew he was making the right one.

"I know I promised I would protect you…" he began again, adding, "But Kagome _needs _me right now, more than you do." He pleaded with his eyes for her to understand.

"Kagome is a waste of time." Kikyou spat instead, adding, "She _is_ my copy. It is I whom you truly wish to care for, not her. She and I are the same."

_Okay, that's it_…

Inuyasha's ears swiveled backwards for a moment, catching the sound of their audience, but he was grateful his friends hadn't come forward yet. This was a confrontation he needed to have by himself. Suddenly, he didn't feel any hesitation to say what needed to be said, even despite the fact that he was now being watched.

"She's _not _your copy, and you two are _not _the same!" he shouted, making sure the whole gods damned village could hear him. "For one thing, Kagome would _never _say she wished you were dead…" he threw in her face, "…even though my running off to see you hurts her feelings."

He paused at his own words for a moment, guilt for all of the times he'd hurt Kagome over and over again suddenly flooding his soul. He breathed deeply once more, relishing in the lingering traces of her calming scent on his clothing. He remembered _her _promise in that moment, the one she'd made when she'd vowed to always stay with him, no matter what, even though he could never forget about Kikyou. Kagome truly loved him unconditionally, he realized in that moment, remembering the words she had muttered during her dream. While he had suspected her feelings for him went beyond mere friendship, to hear her say it aloud… But he was losing track of his focus. There was a very real obstacle standing in the way between him and Kagome, an obstacle that needed to be removed.

"Even despite that…" Inuyasha continued in that moment, "She's never forced me to choose." he stated matter-of-factly, adding, "And she's also never tried to manipulate me into thinking that she was really the same as you, or that my feelings for her are the same as my old feelings for you."

"So…" Kikyou said in that moment, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "You have feelings for her, do you?"

His eyes didn't widen in shock at her words. He hadn't confessed his feelings for Kagome accidentally.

"Yes, I do." he confirmed in that moment.

"I see…" was Kikyou's answer.

Smirking, the undead miko almost seemed amused at the concept, her expression clearly indicating how she believed Kagome couldn't _possibly_ return his feelings. He was, after all, a filthy, lowly half-breed.

Inuyasha had no trouble reading Kikyou's face in that moment, her opinion of him quite clear, having seen that same look on the faces of nearly every human he'd ever met in his entire life, save for Kagome and their ragtag group of friends.

"One more thing…" he added in that moment, his voice calm and collected. "Kagome accepts me for who and _what _I am. She's told me straight to my face that she likes me as a _hanyou_." He emphasized the word. "You, on the other hand, tried to change me. You wanted to be with me, but only if I became something I'm not, only if we used the Shikon no Tama to make me human. You never really loved me, you only loved _half _of me…the other half you wanted dead."

Unexpectedly, Kikyou sighed in that moment, and her face actually softened the smallest bit, as if revealing for just a moment the woman she had once been, before her hard mask of indifference was firmly back in place.

"So, you choose Kagome, then." she stated. It wasn't phrased like a question.

Inuyasha sighed as well in that moment. Kagome had never forced him to choose, but… "Kikyou…" he spoke softly. "If…if you're really going to force me to choose…_right now_…between going to Kagome's side or going with you into Hell…then yes, I choose Kagome."

There was no room for apologies in his statement. She was the one who had forced his hand in this. If she could only have accepted the fact that he needed to dedicate himself to Kagome during her time of need, that he needed to be able to be there for the future-born-miko at least until the conclusion of their mission, then she could have very likely gotten her way in the end. Now, he would not be joining her in Hell, in that moment, or at all.

"So be it." she stated simply, her voice neither hostile nor forgiving.

With those last words, Kikyou moved forward to close the distance between them, and commanding her shinidamachuu to release him in that moment, she gently wrapped her arms around him, before softly pressing her lips against his own. It was a goodbye kiss, and he allowed Kikyou that last courtesy, not really returning her kiss, though not pushing her away, either. After their lips parted, she smiled at him, a genuine smile, which made her look like the Kikyou he had once loved half a century ago.

Slowly, an unnatural energy began forming around her, just like when she had previously tried to drag him into Hell with her, only this time, he was not engulfed in the energy himself, and his mind was still clear. Inuyasha couldn't help the faint whimper of "Don't go…" that escaped his lips as he saw the cloud consume her, but he felt her soul speak to him in response, as her body began to disintegrate…

"Inuyasha…in the end, I wanted only for you to choose whom you loved. If it is truly Kagome who now holds your heart, then go, be with her. My soul can rest knowing that you are happy."

As Kikyou's essence began to fade from this world, Inuyasha spoke one last sentence to the miko he had once loved. "I promise I'll avenge you…"

Kikyou's body was gone in a flash of light, the separate lights of her imprisoned souls suddenly becoming visible, as they swirled around the spot where she had once stood, before slowly floating off into the sky. All but one… One of the souls flew straight past Inuyasha and down into the Bone Eater's Well.

_What the hell?_ he thought frantically, taking only the briefest of moments to turn in the direction of the forest where Miroku and Sango stood quietly, nodding in their direction that he'd known they were there and appreciated their silent support, should Kikyou have thought to do something dastardly. Then he was gone, leaping after the vanished ball of light, as the lights of time consumed him.

Staring back in the direction of everything they had just witnessed with eyes wide in amazement, Miroku was the one to break the silence as he commented, "I believe we have just witnessed a miracle." The statement was meant in reference to the fact that Inuyasha had actually managed to choose between the two women in his life.

"I'm just glad that it's over, and that he chose Kagome." Sango commented, feeling tremendous relief. Too many times had Kagome cried to her during a soak in a hot spring. It took breaking her leg, but it looked like the miko's wish for Inuyasha to love her in return would finally be granted.


	4. Complete

Chapter 4 – Complete

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Emerging on the other side of time, Inuyasha leapt out of the well and ran outside just in time to see the ball of light fly through Kagome's bedroom window. It hadn't taken him long to realize that it was the piece of soul that had originally been pulled from Kagome to bring the false Kikyou to life, and so he was not too worried, except over what Kagome's reaction might be to discovering that Kikyou had passed on. Still, the hanyou decided in that moment, what with the large pack he was currently carrying, that it would be better for him to use the more conventional method of entering her house through the front door. After knocking first, of course.

Mrs. Higurashi was quick to answer.

"Welcome back, Inuyasha, we've been expecting you." she stated gently. "Please, come in- Oh my!" she exclaimed upon noticing the large sack he was carrying. "Are all these things for Kagome?"

"From our friends…" he mumbled quietly while slipping the bag from his shoulder and passing it off to Kagome's mother. It still felt weird to acknowledge out loud that he _had _friends, but he could say it, thanks to the girl resting upstairs.

Mrs. Higurashi glanced through the leather pack with an increasingly large smile developing on her face. She had never realized just how deeply her daughter's friends from the past truly cared for her.

"Here…" she said after a moment, removing a small bundle from the sack. "Let me take the herbs…" she stated, the hanyou having told her what every item was as she'd examined them. Then handing the bag back to Inuyasha, she added, "…and you can take the wards and notes up to Kagome's room. I'm sure she would appreciate the break from her school work."

"She has to do school work?" he asked in surprise.

"Well," her mother explained in that moment. "She's going to be absent for six weeks straight, so they're allowing her to do most of her work here at home so she won't be hit with too much work all at once when she's finally able to return to school."

"I guess that makes sense." he mumbled, while thinking to himself… _I still don't see why that 'school' stuff is so important_.After all, in his opinion, that was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

Still, knowing better than to say anything along those lines to the girl's mother, Inuyasha silently headed up to Kagome's room in that moment. He was just about to barge in like he usually did, but then at the last moment he decided to knock first instead. He was feeling incredibly guilty, so the least he could do was show the girl a proper amount of respect in her own home.

"Yeah…?" Kagome's voice asked from the other side of the door.

Poking his head inside her room just a smidge, Inuyasha hesitantly asked, "May I come in?"

"Since when do _you_ ask first?" Kagome asked in a playful tone.

Taking that as a 'yes', Inuyasha entered her room the rest of the way, closing the door again behind himself. Glancing up in Kagome's direction, he tried not to stare too obviously at her leg. It hurt him enough to have such a constant reminder of what had happened to her; he couldn't even imagine how much pain she must be in herself. His pain was only emotional, after all, although that didn't make it any less real in his mind. It absolutely killed him inside to know what he had allowed to happen; nobody would ever be able to convince him that it wasn't his fault.

"Ya know…" Kagome began out of nowhere, successfully pulling him from his spiraling thoughts. "The strangest thing just happened a few minutes ago." she stated, instantly earning his full attention as his ears sprang forward. Her tone was calm, relaxed, and in no way suggesting that she had been on the verge of freaking out prior to his knock on her bedroom door.

"Here I was taking my history notes…" she started, gesturing with her hands to her current position of sitting on her bed with her back cushioned at the headboard with enough pillows so that she could sit up comfortably, history book laying open in her lap with a separate pad of paper and a pen sitting beside her on the comforter. "…and then suddenly I felt a presence at my window." she added, nodding her head in that direction." At first I thought it was you, but when I looked up, I saw a ball of light flying towards me."

She paused to gage his reaction, and couldn't help but notice the way he silently gulped, clearly nervous over what she was about to ask him. Still, she had to know…

"Inuyasha…has something happened to Kikyou?"

It was a fairly stupid question, Kagome knew, since something clearly _had _happened to Kikyou in order for that piece of soul to have suddenly found its way back to her, and through the passage of time, no less. The future-born-miko had immediately recognized the ball of light for what it was, and she had felt no fear as it'd approached her, merging itself with the rest of her soul. Finally, she felt complete. The fact that Kikyou's death could have even remotely meant that Inuyasha had joined her in Hell had never even crossed Kagome's mind, not after his reaction to her injury at the hospital. But the fact still remained that _something _had happened to Kikyou, and Kagome absolutely hated the idea that her preincarnation could have possibly somehow fallen victim to Naraku while Inuyasha had been in her time. Or even worse…that they were somehow connected and Kikyou had taken the brunt of what had been meant for her, which would morbidly explain why she had miraculously escaped the accident fairly unscathed. Kagome would never be able to forgive herself if Kikyou's death had been her fault, no matter how indirectly, and the fact that Inuyasha had begun looking so nervous as she began her tale had immediately revealed to her that he knew precisely what had happened, which eliminated the possibility of Kikyou's death being completely random and taking place somewhere away from the village. The fact that he had arrived in her time mere seconds after Kikyou's soul was another red flag, since Kagome had heard when Inuyasha had first entered her house downstairs. He would've had to have leapt through the well right after it.

As Kagome waited for Inuyasha's answer, their eyes locked, and she found herself gulping in turn at the intensity of his gaze. He didn't look away from her as he usually did whenever her preincarnation's name got mentioned, and instead, it almost seemed as if he wished to explain it all to her with his eyes.

Finally, he spoke, and although it wasn't really what Kagome had wanted to hear, she would respect his honesty.

"I…don't really want to talk about it right now, if that's okay."

"I understand." she answered, lowering her eyes, although she must not have been able to properly mask the concern on her face, because in that moment he did manage to at least tell her, "It wasn't your fault."

Looking back up and meeting his gaze a second time, Inuyasha's eyes were no less intense then they had been a minute prior, as he assured her, "It didn't have anything _directly_ to do with your…accident."

It was Inuyasha who broke eye contact then, lowering his gaze to the tatami floor. Part of him wanted to tell her everything, but he was afraid, and for more than one reason. Part of him still cared for Kikyou, and he was afraid that Kagome might misunderstand if she managed to catch a glimpse of his old love for the deceased miko in his eyes. He was also worried over what Kagome might think if he revealed Kikyou's reason for deciding to pass on in the first place, that he had feelings for _her _now. Sure…he knew that Kagome cared for _him_, but what if it was just women's fancy? What if she didn't really love him the way he hoped she did? He knew he would never be able to handle that kind of rejection.

While Kagome didn't know exactly what was troubling her hanyou companion in that moment, it was clear that Inuyasha was a prisoner to rather unpleasant thoughts, so she decided to spare him by bubbly changing the subject, as she put her history book and notes aside on her nightstand before eagerly asking, "So, what's in the bag?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Here…" he said, stepping forward and handing her the saddlebag. "These are from everyone." he added, taking the leather sack back from her when she dumped its contents out onto her bed in her lap so that she could see everything.

Grateful for the distraction, Inuyasha immediately began explaining what each item was as she went through them, telling her what each of the different wards were for as she examined Miroku's handiwork. He attached the prayer wards to her wall for her while she chuckled at Shippou's drawings. Smiling a tiny bit himself at the sight of Kagome laughing, Inuyasha was just about to tell her how he would deliver her own letters to their friends in his time when there was a second knock at the door.

"Kagome? Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi called through the door. "I've brought you two some dinner."

"Thanks Mama, come on in!" Kagome replied happily. She was really hungry, though it was no wonder considering that all she'd had to eat in the last couple of days was hospital food.

_She's so cheerful…_ Inuyasha thought, baffled. _She came closer to death than she has in any battle with any youkai, and she still hasn't lost her spirit_…

Reflecting on Kagome's overall personality and usual mood, it didn't take long for Inuyasha to realize that the only times her spirit ever seemed broken at all was when it involved Kikyou.

After Kagome's mother left the room, the teenager immediately began eating her yakisoba, not even noticing when Inuyasha didn't touch his plate at first.

_Fuck it…she deserves to know what happened_, he decided suddenly, his fears be damned.

"She wanted me to go with her." he mumbled quietly, absently fiddling with his chopsticks as he remained staring at his noodles, unable to meet Kagome's gaze.

Immediately earning her full attention, Kagome's eyes shot up, a couple of noodles comically dangling from her mouth that she was quick to slurp up the rest of the way.

"Kikyou…?" she asked hesitantly.

He nodded, before adding, "It was like a test, I think, to see if I would. Out of nowhere she wants me to forget about everything and go with her. I told her I couldn't …not _yet_, not _now_, not while you…" Choking up for a moment, he took a deep breath then finished with "…not while you needed me more."

"So then…the soul?" she asked, already fearing she knew the answer.

"She…passed on without me." he confirmed. "I had to choose…she forced me to choose."

Inuyasha was trying very hard to get out what needed to be said without crying, so when the sting of salt water first hit his nose, he raised a panicked hand to his own eyes before realizing they were still dry. Looking up from his uneaten yakisoba, Inuyasha's eyes widened at the sight before him.

_She's__ crying? How come? _

"Kagome?"

Releasing a sound that was caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob, Kagome raised a shaky hand to her face, drying the tracks on her cheeks before she managed to state, "You…you chose…_me?"_

With a nice dusting of pink rising to his cheeks, Inuyasha tried his best to sound put out by the inconvenience, failing miserably all the while.

"K-keh!" he started. "I couldn't just leave you alone like _this_…" he stated, gesturing with a wave of his hand in her direction to her plaster-incased limb sitting ostentatiously beside her uninjured one. "I just couldn't…" he repeated a little quieter, giving Kagome the impression that he was speaking more to himself, although she heard him just fine.

Finally realizing there was really no point in trying to hide his genuine feelings of concern for her, especially since he hadn't been doing a very good job to begin with, Inuyasha finally decided to lose the tough-guy routine altogether, as he carefully sat his plate on her desk before approaching her side of the bed, taking her hand. Part of him wanted to pull her into a hug, but he was afraid any shift in her position might cause more pain in her leg. He was still amazed over how she didn't seem to be acting as though she was in any pain to begin with, even though he knew from first-hand experience that freshly broken bones hurt like hell, and she didn't have youkai-healing.

Settling for holding her hand in that moment, he then looked her in the eyes and repeated the words he'd said to her once before, when they had been separated across the span of time; words the future-born-miko had since come to cherish.

"I need you with me, Kagome. Haven't you realized that yet?"

"I need you too, Inuyasha…" she replied between sobs. "I don't know what I would have done if you'd…if you'd…" She couldn't finish that thought, but she didn't have to.

"You'll never have to worry about that ever again." he comforted gently, giving her hand a little squeeze.

Figuring he'd met his 'mushy stuff' quota for the night, Inuyasha pulled away from her a bit in that moment as he commanded playfully, "Come on now, you better finished your dinner. You need to keep your strength up, after all. We're gonna have to work twice as hard to find the rest of the shards once that leg of yours finally heals."

Kagome playfully stuck her tongue out at him before proceeding to get back to her dinner, the peaceful chuckle that escaped his lips music to her ears. Inuyasha then retrieved his own dish from where he'd sat it and made quick work of cleaning his plate. Mrs. Higurashi was a really good cook.

After they were both finished with their dinner Inuyasha took their dishes downstairs into the kitchen, where Kagome's mother insisted she would take care of the cleaning, shooing him back upstairs to keep her daughter company. The elder Higurashi woman knew how much Kagome cared for that dog-eared boy, and after their trip to the hospital, she knew how much he cared for her daughter in return. If anything, his presence would have Kagome willing her body to recuperate faster, although she suspected her daughter didn't mind the 'alone' time her broken leg was currently granting them, away from their other friends back in the Sengoku jidai. While having lots of friends was definitely a good thing, there were times when a girl simply wanted to be alone with the boy she loved.

When Inuyasha reentered Kagome's room, he found her reading the letters from Sango and Miroku, and finally told her in that moment of how he had told the others he would be willing to work as letter-carrier back and forth so that the rest of them could keep in touch, considering how he was the only one who could travel through the well to see her in person. He was selfish, but he wasn't _that _selfish, to not at least do what he could to help Kagome keep in touch with their other friends, although he would admit, at least to himself, that he was glad he was the only one who could actually travel through the well.

Kagome was tremendously grateful to hear Inuyasha's offer to help her stay in touch with the others during her recovery, and she was just about to express her gratitude out loud when what escaped her throat instead was a tongue-curling yawn.

Chuckling quietly, Inuyasha said, "Okay, time to get some sleep…" right before a huge yawn passed through his own lips, exposing his fangs.

Kagome laughed outright at the notion that yawning was even contagious to hanyou, unable to pass up the opportunity to tease him about how he wasn't immune to all human ailments. Rolling his eyes at her amusement, Inuyasha proceeded to pull the sheathed Tetsusaiga from his obi, preparing to settle himself down in his traditional position of sitting against the wall with the katana resting against his shoulder.

Mrs. Higurashi had already figured that Inuyasha would be staying the night in Kagome's room, and rather than trying to fight the matter, she had actually provided some extra bedding and a pillow for him to spread out on the floor. He appreciated the gesture more than he figured the woman would ever realize, to extend such a blatant invitation for him to remain in Kagome's bedroom, rather than pretending she had assumed he would sleep outside on the roof, although he planned on leaving the blanket right where it was, rolled up and sitting in Kagome's desk chair. He had no need of it.

Kagome's thoughts were currently running along similar lines, that he had no need of the extra bedding her mother had provided, although it was for an entirely different reason than the fact that he planned on spending the night sitting propped against the wall. Wiggling herself over to make enough room, she patted the empty spot beside her she had created while quietly inviting, "You can sleep up here, if you want."

A new wave of pink immediately rushed to his cheeks, although one look at her face had his protests dying on his tongue. What would it hurt, really? Well…there was _one _thing.

"What about your leg?" he asked then. "What if I hurt you?"

Kagome laughed a little and admitted, "With all the stuff they gave me for the pain, you could cut it off right now and I wouldn't feel it."

Well, that certainly explained why she hadn't been acting as if her leg was currently bothering her at all.

Inuyasha flashed her a look of uncertainty, in regard to how strong the pain meds she'd taken really were, but he nevertheless leaned Tetsusaiga against the wall, switching off her lamp before slowly climbing up into the bed, which he had slept on once before. Of course, Kagome hadn't also been in it at the time. That thought had a nice rosy glow returning to his cheeks, although the miko fortunately couldn't see it in the dark. Maneuvering the blankets down and then up and over both of them, Inuyasha was extremely careful not to bump Kagome in any way during the procedure. He then settled himself flat on his back, content to lie still on her comfortable mattress, secretly relishing in the soothing nature of her scent.

As for the miko, Kagome took advantage of that moment to roll herself over slightly onto her right, which, with a pillow between her legs, was truly the most comfortable position for her with the cast. Although she had ulterior motives as well, as she draped her left arm across his body, resting her hand on Inuyasha's chest and her head against his shoulder. His left arm was pinned between their bodies, though not in an uncomfortable way, she was sure. Kagome felt him stiffen at the contact, and holding her breath, she waited for his protest, but it never came. After a moment, she felt Inuyasha relax against her, and then his right hand lifted to rest on top of her left hand on his chest.

They were both sporting rosy cheeks by that time, and although Kagome still wouldn't have been able to see Inuyasha's blush even if she had been looking directly at his face, his enhanced sense of smell had no trouble picking up the subtle changes in her scent as she clearly allowed her mind to wander in that moment. He didn't say anything, though, too caught up in his amazement that the girl had actually initiated such intimate contact between them, not to mention what the more musky undertones in her scent were revealing to him. In that moment, Inuyasha was just grateful that her sense of smell wasn't as acute as his own, otherwise he knew his own body would be betraying his secrets, as well. Still, he was getting closer and closer to deciding he should just come clean completely about his feelings for her. His fear of rejection was rapidly becoming less severe.

As Kagome allowed the soothing allure of slumber to seduce her higher thought processes, she found herself lazily wondering why it had needed to take a broken leg in order to get her that close to him. Still, regardless of how it had finally happened, she was relishing in their closeness. Now, she was truly complete.


	5. The Healing Process

Chapter 5 – The Healing Process

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Inuyasha woke first, not needing as much sleep as a human, though he was content to lie with Kagome until the slumbering miko roused on her own. He didn't want to disturb her, figuring the girl could use as much rest as she could get. Of course, the simple thought that he was lying _with _Kagome was enough to awaken the blood behind his cheeks, though Inuyasha was quick to get his rapidly increasing heartbeat back under control. There was nothing perverted about the way they were lying together. The girl was _injured_, for crying out loud, and so there was nothing wrong with her using his shoulder as a pillow. After all, Kagome had allowed him to rest his head in her lap when he had been poisoned by the Spiderheads, so this was the same thing, or so he at least tried to convince himself.

Permitting his thoughts to wander as the morning progressed, it wasn't long before the hanyou found himself thinking of Kikyou, specifically in regard to more recent events, and how he would no longer find himself torn between the two miko in his life. There was only one miko in his life, now, and he found himself feeling relieved above all else. Now that he was released from his pledge of _ever _having to join Kikyou in Hell, Inuyasha realized in that moment with no small measure of happiness that nothing…_nothing_…would ever be able to take him away from the girl currently lying cuddled against him.

A few random murmurs passed from Kagome's lips in that moment, mumbled nonsense as she brought voice to whatever random visions were playing out behind her eyelids, and it had Inuyasha recalling her sleep-talking back at the hospital.

_She said she loves me…_he remembered, and from the way she had invited him into her bed the night before, Inuyasha was finding it less likely that her feelings were fleeting, as he had momentarily feared. Her reaction over the discovery that he had been forced to choose once and for all between her and Kikyou, and that he had chosen her, spoke volumes in and of itself. He only hoped that the fact that he _had _chosen her spoke to her his true feelings in return.

Inuyasha was pulled from his thoughts when the girl in his arms started to stir, Kagome's body shifting slightly as her dream world faded to leave her in the land of wakefulness. Suddenly, her fingers tightened into a fist against his chest, clutching the material of his kimono in the process. He was surprised by her strength, and mused for a moment that if she had claws she would've pierced his flesh with how strongly she was suddenly gripping him. His amusement was short-lived, however, with the realization that Kagome was in a fair amount of distress.

Moaning in obvious pain, the girl shifted herself jerkily, her eyes opening slowly as she squinted against the bright rays of the sun beaming in through her bedroom window.

"Are you okay?" he asked her worriedly, any passing concern over how awkward their morning could have possibly been flying right out that same window in the face of her discomfort.

"My leg…" she groaned, gritting her teeth against the stabbing pain as she rolled herself back over onto her back before hoisting herself up into more of a sitting position, pulling the extra pillow from between her legs and sticking it back under her left.

"How do I help?" he asked desperately. "Where are the herbs you'd taken before?"

"That little white bottle." she answered, pointing to the prescription bottle sitting on her nightstand that she couldn't reach from her current position.

Inuyasha immediately grabbed the little bottle for her, passing it over. He watched in silence as Kagome opened the bottle and took out two of the pills it contained, and then taking the bottle back from her once she replaced the lid, he handed her the glass of water that was also sitting on her nightstand, remaining silent as she took her pills.

"Damn…" she muttered under her breath as she passed the glass of water back to Inuyasha to sit on the nightstand.

"What is it?" he asked her quietly, almost as if he was afraid raising his voice would cause her more pain.

"Oh nothing…" Kagome assured him in that moment, waving her hand around as if to dismiss his concerns. "It's just that it takes about twenty minutes or so for those pills to kick in, so I get to sit here in pain until then."

She was in good spirits about it all, definitely not about to complain about the pain of a broken leg when she knew very well how she could've come out of everything with much worse injuries, but still…

"Ano…" Inuyasha started after a moment, unsure of what to say but hating the fact that Kagome was hurting and he was unable to do anything about it. "Did you want to talk about something? Maybe try to take your mind off the pain?" he suggested then.

Kagome was mildly surprised by the suggestion, though she was also truly touched by his offer, knowing quite well how Inuyasha usually wasn't a very talkative person. Trying to give the matter some serious thought, however, she found that the only subject really nagging at her was the recent discovery that Kikyou had passed on while leaving Inuyasha behind. She secretly hoped that this change in events meant that there might actually be a genuine chance of her and Inuyasha having a more serious relationship one day, but still…she also felt sorry for Inuyasha, at the same time, knowing how much he had loved Kikyou at least at one time, and how hard it had to have been for him when she had forced him to make such a decision.

"Hello…? Kagome? Are you still in there?" she suddenly heard Inuyasha ask with amusement in his voice.

Blinking, the miko turned to glance in his direction with a sheepish smile on her face, as she apologized lamely, "Sorry, guess my mind kind of wandered off there for a second."

"Well…" he answered, "That's a good thing, I suppose." he commented, pointing out, "You don't seem to be in pain any more."

"Hey, yeah!" she realized with a giggle. "The pills have started working!"

She laughed for a moment longer, the pain pills having the side effect of making her slightly loopy when they first kick in, but Inuyasha just watched her with an amused grin on his face, grateful she was no longer suffering.

"So…" the hanyou drawled playfully after a moment. "What were you thinking about?"

"Oh…" she mumbled quietly, her amusement gone, which immediately peaked his curiosity. "…nothing."

"Your mind wandered off to 'nothing'?" he asked disbelievingly.

"It's not important." she insisted, her sudden nervousness as clear as the blush rising to her cheeks.

"I think I know what you were thinking about." he teased in that moment, causing her to gape at him like a fish, her eyes wide in shock.

He decided in that moment not to tell her that she had actually blabbed her secret in her sleep, although he also decided to at least let her know that he knew how she felt about him...and how he felt about her.

"With Kikyou no longer an issue between us…" he started, a nice shade of crimson dusting his own cheeks at the admittance. "I've thought about it, too." he confessed, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"Inuyasha…" she murmured in amazement, reaching over with her other hand and cupping his.

He offered her a genuine smile before releasing her hands and shimmying himself out of her bed so that she would have more room to be comfortable. "Let's worry about getting that leg of yours healed up first, though, all right?" he asked her then, pointing out, "I'm not going anywhere, so we've got plenty of time to talk about…certain things…after you've recovered."

There were a lot of things he needed to discuss with her, he knew, and he was also more than a little worried over how she would take some of it, but since her leg really did need to be fully healed before they could finalize...certain things...there was no point in worrying himself over a conversation they wouldn't be having for over a month.

With her mind and heart both suddenly racing a mile a minute, Kagome found that she had a million things she wanted to both say and ask, but suddenly, the look in his eyes seemed to explain it all to her, as she replied only with a softly spoken, "Okay."

...

Over the next three weeks no more was said on the subject, though Inuyasha spent every night with Kagome in her time, in her bed. For the first time in his life, the inu-hanyou found himself feeling truly at peace, even though he still felt a small measure of guilt regarding what had happened to Kagome while he hadn't been there to protect her. He had since reiterated his desire to always accompany Kagome whenever she ventured out into her world from that point onward, and the miko had conceded, insisting only that he must keep himself hidden from view if he planned on being her shadow. She didn't find the idea of him basically stalking her an invasion of privacy, and instead actually felt touched that he was so clearly concerned for her safety. Considering the circumstances, she knew she didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to arguing that her world was safe…pun intended.

Inuyasha found amusement in the fact that Kagome was able to so easily make fun of her own situation, but he knew the miko's good spirits came from the fact that he had not abandoned her in her time of need, and instead, his desire to be with her had become the strongest it'd ever been. With the exception of leaving for a couple of hours every few days to give the gang back in the past an update, and to assist with their letter-exchanges, Inuyasha spent all of his time in Kagome's world. He stayed quiet when she needed to spend time studying her school work, and sometimes he would leave her alone for a few hours so she could get her reading done in peace while he passed the time assisting her mother or grandfather with some random task or another, but he was always within earshot for whenever she might need him. Fortunately, being an inu-hanyou meant that 'within earshot' included being outside in the storage sheds.

The miko was gradually able to cut down on her pain medication as her bones continued knitting themselves back together, and she was even able to move around with a pair of crutches her mother had acquired for her, though she still spent most of her time sitting in bed. The crutches also kind of hurt her arms, she found, so whenever she did need to move around, she usually just let Inuyasha carry her to wherever she needed to go, like to the restroom or the dinner table. Her mother still allowed her and Inuyasha to eat breakfast and lunch in her room, but dinner was once again a family affair. Kagome didn't mind; it gave her a chance to catch up with everything else that was going on since she spent so much of her time in her room.

She wasn't a total recluse, however. The miko actually left the house once with her entire family, including Inuyasha, who they'd manage to get changed into some modern-day clothing for the event. They had been invited to attend the court hearing of the man who had hit her. He'd pled guilty, and his plea had matched his expression as he'd glanced in Kagome's direction, apologizing to the court and stating that he would do his jail time at least relieved to know that he hadn't taken an innocent life. Kagome, being the truly forgiving girl that she was, forgave the man, though 'man' was a loose term. In reality, he was really little more than a boy; a boy who had made a foolish, reckless mistake, and had nearly paid for it with _her _life. Inuyasha had growled low in his throat as they'd taken the adolescent away, but he had otherwise behaved himself, and was at least grateful to learn that the person who had hurt Kagome was accepting his punishment with honor. He understood that the kid hadn't deliberately meant to cause Kagome any harm, but the brat was _very _lucky that Kagome hadn't been killed. Inuyasha wouldn't have cared how sorry he was, if she had been; it would've taken the authorities of her time weeks to find all the pieces.

Other than that small bit of excitement, Kagome's school friends also visited her on several occasions. Sometimes Inuyasha kept himself out of sight, so as not to arouse suspicion as to why he was _always _there, but other times he had deliberately made his presence known, wearing something over his ears, of course. Yuka, Eri and Ayumi had already met him once before, and had already given Kagome their approval of her 'boyfriend', so the fact that he was there spending time with the girl while she was hurt was most definitely a good thing in their eyes. The only one who didn't seem to take an instant liking to him was Houjou, though that was all right with him since the feeling was mutual. Kagome wasn't officially his, yet, and Inuyasha knew a rival male when he saw one. Fortunately, it was also quite clear, at least to the hanyou, that Kagome didn't have any feelings for the human boy beyond mere friendship.

...

Things continued to progress like normal in the routine that had been developed between them for nearly another full week, until Inuyasha suddenly found himself worrying about something that had honestly been the farthest thing from his mind until suddenly realizing what night it was. Kagome's accident had coincidentally taken place just two days after the start of the lunar cycle, so now finally…twenty-six days later…it was once again the night of the new moon.

Hesitantly broaching the subject with the miko, Kagome believed she knew where his nervousness was coming from, as she confirmed that nobody else in her family was aware of his monthly transformation; a secret she hadn't felt it her place to reveal, even to her own mother. Inuyasha suddenly found himself in awe over Kagome's level of consideration for him, since he had never specifically told her not to tell her family of his night of weakness, and had honestly figured they probably knew. He also suddenly found himself wondering what he should do about dinner that night. He hadn't missed eating with her family once in the last month, so now, how could they possibly explain his absence at the table, should he choose to remain hidden away? Eventually, with only thirty minutes to go before sunset, the hanyou decided to just go ahead and let the rest of Kagome's family in on the secret. They had always been so accepting of the fact that he was half youkai, so it certainly shouldn't bother them to learn that there were times when he actually turned fully human. With a light chuckle, he even told the miko that her grandfather would probably be relieved to have him be 'normal' for one night. Of course, she immediately scolded that he _was _normal, just the way he was, as a hanyou, which was one of the things he loved most about her.

_That _random thought had Inuyasha immediately remembering his original concern regarding the upcoming moonless night. It wasn't what Kagome's family's reaction was going to be, it was what _his _reaction was going to be, to spending the night cuddled up with Kagome in her bed while being subjected to his somewhat overpowering human emotions. His proximity to the girl at night was hard enough to deal with while in his hanyou form, when he had a better grip on himself and his feelings. He didn't even want to think about what might happen if he lost control of his emotions while stuck in his human body. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Mutual Vulnerability

Chapter 6 – Mutual Vulnerability

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Kagome's family had indeed taken the news of Inuyasha's monthly transformations fairly well, all things considered. As predicted, her grandfather had mumbled some comment or another about him finally looking 'normal' for once, Souta had almost seemed devastated until he'd learned that Inuyasha would be back to what _he _considered 'normal' at sunrise, and Kagome's mother had commented only how going through such a thing must be uncomfortable for him, and that at least for that one night, he didn't have to worry about the dangers of the Sengoku jidai. In fact, the elder Higurashi woman had even gone as far as to extend an open invitation for him to always return to their time during the nights of the new moon, so that he would always have a safe place he could stay if ever he needed one.

Humbly thanking the woman, and even promising to take her up on her offer so long as returning to the well didn't put his group out of their way, depending on where across the countryside they happened to be as the new moons grew near, Inuyasha then proceeded to eat most of his dinner in silence, content to listen as the rest of the family chit-chatted with Kagome about their day.

Once dinner was complete and he assisted the miko with heading back upstairs for the night, Inuyasha immediately lost whatever small sense of tranquility he'd felt in the face of Mrs. Higurashi's kind words. Fortunately, Kagome didn't want to go to bed right away, having decided to get some more studying done while her dinner finished digesting, so he took advantage of the next hour or so trying to psyche himself up to tell the girl why sharing her bed that night wouldn't be a good idea.

"Kagome…" he eventually murmured, breaking the tranquil silence.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as she glanced up from her studying and over to where Inuyasha was sitting on her floor, a frown marring her brow as she took note of his nervous expression.

"I don't, uh…" _Damn it, how do I say this? 'I don't want to sleep in your bed tonight_._'? But I don't want to hurt her feelings, either_.

"You don't…what?" she asked in confusion, closing her math book and giving him her complete attention.

"I'm not…used to sleeping during the new moon." he settled on in that moment, having decided that it would be too hard to excuse why he suddenly wanted to sleep on the floor instead of on the bed with her, figuring the best solution all the way around would be for him to just stay awake until dawn like he always did during his human nights.

Kagome's eyes softened at his words, realizing how hard it must be for the guy to let himself relax, especially considering he had learned the hard way to _never _allow himself to fall asleep while temporarily so vulnerable.

"Inuyasha, my time is safe." Kagome assured him in a gentle tone. "I mean, sure…there are still dangers out there in the world, that'll never change…" she amended, gesturing briefly to her leg, "But my _room _is safe, our shrine is safe, you can sleep peacefully on this night. You don't-"

Her speech was broken when an aptly timed yawn escaped her lips without permission.

"-have to worry." she finished then, before setting her math book on the nightstand and shimmying herself closer to the wall to make room for him. Then with a touch of humor aimed towards herself, she added, "In fact, why don't you go ahead and come to bed now? I'm obviously getting sleepy, and for at least one night in your life, you deserve a good night's sleep, too."

He had to admit the girl did make it sound awfully tempting. Not requiring as much sleep while in his hanyou form, Inuyasha had actually lied awake during most of the nights shared in Kagome's bed, having simply allowed the girl to sleep against him, as she so clearly desired. A few times, their first night together included, he had permitted himself to nod off for a little while, but he always acquired whatever brief amounts of sleep he got while in his hanyou form, relying on his heightened senses to immediately awaken him should danger strike. He _never _slept during his human night, poisonings not included, and while he knew that her time _was _safe, in that regard, and there was definite appeal to the thought of experiencing peaceful slumber as a human at least once in his lifetime, Inuyasha still worried about sharing Kagome's bed for the night. Ideally, he would honestly prefer taking advantage of the blankets and pillow Mrs. Higurashi had originally provided for him to setup his own bedding down on the floor, but he knew Kagome would never understand if he did.

Unless he explained it to her, of course, although the only thing that terrified him more than what might happen should his emotions get the better of him was _telling her _he was afraid of what might happen should his emotions get the better of him. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, and in that moment, Inuyasha decided to suck it up and just stop thinking about it so much. Knowing his luck, his worrying about it would only create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

New decision made, since the miko clearly had no intention of letting him stay awake all night, Inuyasha replied to Kagome's heartfelt reassurances with a smile and a nod before rising to his feet, giving his body a good stretch as he popped out the kinks in his back.

Grinning in turn, Kagome patted the spot beside her invitingly, and though he felt a little flustered at the idea of climbing into bed with her in his human form, Inuyasha was secretly proud of the fact that he managed to do so without blushing.

Reaching over and clicking off Kagome's bedside lamp once he was in place, the hanyou-turned-human remained silent as the girl beside him went through her two-minute ritual of shifting and getting comfortable. Unsurprisingly, the miko took up her normal position of resting her head against his shoulder while her left hand found its home upon his chest. Inuyasha then completed the nightly routine by reaching up with his right hand to gently grasp her left, pinning it to his chest as he gave it a gentle squeeze, a softly spoken "Good night…" escaping his lips at barely above a whisper.

"Night…" she murmured back sleepily. It wouldn't be long before unconsciousness claimed her, he realized.

Discretely rolling his head to the side enough to take in the scent of her hair, Inuyasha couldn't help but find it curious how, even though his sense of smell had deplenished almost to the point of nonexistence, he found he was actually more allured by her scent in his human state.

_Don't __say__ anything stupid_,_ don't __do__ anything stupid…_he immediately ordered himself, willing his body to take advantage of the genuine once-in-a-lifetime chance for a deep, restful sleep in his human form. Well, he supposed it wasn't truly as if such a chance would never come again; all he had to do was return to Kagome's world during the next new moon. But whether or not such an opportunity would actually present itself couldn't possibly be predicted in advance like that, so it was best to act as if such a chance would never come again.

Gradually, as the lulling effects of slumber grabbed a hold of his mind, Inuyasha found his thoughts wandering in random directions, mostly in regard to how weird it felt being human. He couldn't believe, now, that at one point in time he had actually been willing to become human permanently. People were willing to do all sorts of strange things for love, he supposed, although if Kikyou had truly loved _him_, then she never would've wanted him to change in the first place. Then again, he understood why it couldn't have possibly worked between them with him as a hanyou, so him turning human really had been the only way. Maybe she really had loved him, to the best of her ability, but it still wasn't lost on the hanyou just how significant it was for Kagome to constantly insist that she liked him _as _a hanyou, and how she _didn't _want him to change…at least not outside of what his body naturally did, anyway.

His thoughts were suddenly broken when Buyo meowed from somewhere downstairs, and Inuyasha found himself unconsciously trying to move his ears in the direction of the sound, before his drowsy mind remembered how those particular muscles didn't exist at the moment. Instead, his useless ears were made up of useless cartilage, although he would admit, at least to himself, that not every single thing about his human body was useless. He was thoroughly enjoying his human heart in that moment, as it allowed him to truly feel the love he always felt for the woman laying against him, but _without_ any of his stupid hanyou insecurities getting in the way. Yes, it was true he was a freak, and at times he was even a monster, but for that one night he was a normal man, sharing a bed with the woman he loved. It was his first human night after Kikyou's passing, and Inuyasha felt no guilt for his thoughts as his mind began comparing the two miko in Kagome's favor.

Kikyou had been taller, but he liked how Kagome's petite body tucked snuggly against his own, her head at the perfect height to rest upon his shoulder.

Kikyou had been a better shot with the bow, but Kagome was learning _fast_, so it wouldn't be long at all before the girl was her preincarnation's equal when it came to the miko weapon of choice. Kagome's raw powers were actually much stronger than Kikyou's had ever been, as the girl had already demonstrated the ability to purify _without _an arrow, the simple touch of her hand having been enough to cause Mistress Centipede injury twice, and that was before Kagome had even known she _was _a miko.

Kagome accepted him as a hanyou. Kagome _loved _him as a hanyou. Kagome didn't think there was anything _wrong _with being a hanyou, _or _a full-blooded youkai. She treated Shippou no differently than if they had found an orphaned human boy, and she even understood that Kirara, who most people considered nothing more than a simple pet, was in truth as intelligent as the rest of them.

He seriously doubted Kikyou would've ever cried for his sake, and while the deceased miko would have done her best to protect him had he ever needed protecting while in her company, Kikyou would have probably felt burdened and obligated to do so, rather than showing any of the genuine concern Kagome had shown him during the numerous times he'd been injured since their journey began.

He was absolutely certain that Kikyou would have _never _allowed him to rest his head in her lap while lying poisoned in his human form.

That thought was the last semi-conscious comparison made by the hanyou-turned-human's mind before thoughts and memories began manifesting themselves in a somewhat less organized fashion. Inuyasha was still aware of the fact that he was lying horizontally on his back; he could still feel the direction of gravity's pull. He wasn't lying completely flat, though…something was underneath his head, tilting his neck forward at the slightest of angles. There was no breeze, so he was clearly indoors. But he felt so warm, and there was no fire. Something was making him hot…he had a fever.

_That's right…I…I was poisoned…I must have forgotten…_he realized vaguely, opening his eyes to spy the shabby, wooden roof of the room they had taken refuge in.

So long as Tetsusaiga was lodged into the door as it was, then the Spiderheads would not be able to break in. He hoped the seal would last until morning. He hoped _he _would last until morning. It hadn't been too much to ask, had it? To rest his head on Kagome's lap? Sure…the girl was annoying at times, but she wasn't all bad. He honestly had no idea why he hadn't told her in advance of his human night. It wasn't that he didn't trust _her_, per se, but he just never trusted anyone. Still…he should have realized it was inevitable that the girl would have found out one way or another. They _were _traveling together, after all. If he had just been honest and upfront from the beginning, then none of this would have happened.

_I always knew my human night would be my undoing…_

Was he really going to die like this? Some weak, pathetic human? At least…at least he had a pretty girl with him during his final moments. One of the gods must have decided to take pity on him. A pretty girl who was actually willing to cry for his sake.

"You smell nice."

"Inuyasha…"

The sound of his name suddenly jolted him awake, and it took the hanyou a moment to realize that he had been dreaming.

_So that's what it's like to fall asleep peacefully_…he mused, kind of glad that she'd woken him up because now he would get to do it again.

"Yeah, Kagome?" he asked sleepily, "What is it?"

"Huh?" she asked him then, thoroughly confused. "But you're the one who just…"

Trailing off, the miko's eyes widened in sudden realization. _He was talking in his sleep! And he doesn't even realize what he said! _

Now she regretted accidentally waking him. She had been on the verge of falling asleep, herself, but the sound of his voice had pulled her consciousness back to the surface. It had been so sudden, so random, and so romantic to her ears. It hadn't been until after going to bed, but it had finally dawned on Kagome why Inuyasha had probably seemed so nervous about the whole thing, and she seriously doubted that it had anything to do with the fact that he had never previous allowed himself to sleep during his human nights. After she'd settled herself against him, she'd suddenly found herself remembering how he was usually so much more open, so much more emotional in his human form.

Looking back on it, she realized the changes in him had actually been obvious all throughout dinner, from how he'd eaten his food more slowly and politely, to how he'd been so clearly touched by her mother's words of welcome. It only made sense, then, that Inuyasha would've felt a more emotional reaction to the notion of sharing her bed with her during his human night; Kagome found herself blushing at the thought of what could have possibly been going through his mind. So when he had gently murmured, clear as day, that she smelled nice, Kagome had immediately taken it as an impromptu complement brought on by his human side, voicing his name in a sigh of surprised gratitude.

Now…the miko found herself frantically scrambling for how to salvage the situation and act as though nothing had happened. Unfortunately, the fact that she'd just trailed off in the middle of her sentence before remaining silent for the last several seconds probably wasn't going to help make things any easier for the girl.

True enough, while Kagome was busy having her own private panic attack, Inuyasha wasn't that far behind with a rising panic all his own.

_I'm the one who just…what? What did I do? _he questioned himself frantically, desperately trying to piece back together his fragments of memory from prior to Kagome's voice pulling him from his dream.

_I had been dreaming about the night I almost died of Spiderhead poison…_ he remembered after a moment.

He surely would have died had it not been for Myouga sucking out as much of the poison as he could; he really ought to be a bit nicer to the flea-youkai. But he hadn't been dreaming about his father's old retainer. No…he'd been remembering how nice it had been to be so close to Kagome, especially when he'd thought that she would be the last thing he ever saw…or smelled.

_Oh holy crap…_Inuyasha realized suddenly, _Did…did I say she smelled nice __**out loud?**_

Yes, yes he did.

_I guess she's not the only one who talks in their sleep_…

Of course, he knew better than to say something like _that_, which would surely only make the awkwardness of their current situation even worse.

_Time to be a man_.

"I'm…uh…I'm sorry." he began lamely.

Snapping out of her own thoughts, Kagome pulled herself back enough to tilt her head up to glance at his face, though it was hard for her to see anything in such low lighting.

"Sorry…?" she questioned hesitantly.

"For, um…for waking you. Not for what I said."

Blinking, Kagome pulled herself back away from him a little more, propping herself up on her elbow a bit to get a better look at him. If he had had his normal hanyou night-vision, then he would've been able to tell how her eyes were sparkling with tenderness and understanding.

"So I wasn't hearing things, after all." she stated after a moment, a slightly playful hint to her voice suggesting that she had in no way actually begun to question whether or not his words had truly been her own imagination.

"No…" he confessed with a bit of a blush rising to his cheeks that he was thankful she couldn't see, even if she probably knew him well enough to know that he was embarrassed as hell with or without enough light to see his face. "I was dreaming…about the night of the Spiderheads…" he explained, admitting sheepishly, "I…I think I know what you heard, but…I was talking in my sleep."

Instead of laughing, which part of him had honestly feared would be her reaction for some obscure reason, Kagome smiled at him before settling herself back down against his shoulder. Inuyasha was just beginning to wonder if she was going to say any more on the subject or let it go, when he heard her quiet murmur of, "I've dreamt of that night, too."

"You have?" he asked her, surprised by her admittance.

"Sure…" she confirmed. "It was the first time you…uh…" _Oh, __real__ smooth, Kagome_... she scolded herself. _Open mouth, insert foot_.

"The first time I what?"

"Um…nothing." she attempted lamely.

"Oh now don't start that again." he teased good-naturedly. "Tell me, please?"

_He really is more emotional in his human form_.

Sucking up her pride, she pinched her eyes shut tighter as if to brace against whatever his reaction might be, as she continued to lie against him while she mumbled, "It was the first time you showed me your gentler side."

Instead of stiffening against her as she had feared would be his initial reaction to her words, Inuyasha remained calm as he translated, "You mean…it was the first time you saw me human." It wasn't phrased like a question.

Kagome didn't want to risk any misunderstandings between them, so she immediately assured him, "I don't prefer your human side over your hanyou side. They are both you, equally, and I like _you_, for who you are. Who you are is a hanyou that, for one night a month, turns human. But yes…" she confessed, "…you are definitely more gentle in your human form."

"Feh…" he grumbled quietly. "I'm _weak _in my human form…stupid emotions…"

Reaching back out for her left hand with his right in that moment, Inuyasha gave her hand a little squeeze before he added, "But I meant what I said…you _do _smell nice." he confessed, offering her a crooked smile as she tilted her head back to meet his eyes with her own.

Grinning in turn, her smile turned into an uncertain frown after a moment as she asked him, "But…will you still think so tomorrow?"

He sighed then, leaning his neck to rest his cheek against her crown. Kagome closed her eyes and relished in the sensation of him taking a few deep whiffs of her hair.

"I know I acted like a jerk to you the next morning, but I was embarrassed." he confessed after a moment. "Just 'cause it's easier for me to say what I feel during my human night doesn't mean that my feelings actually _change _when I turn hanyou again."

"So you're not gonna clam up on me in the morning?" she asked timidly.

"I…" he started, unsure of what to say. "I'll try." he stated honestly after a moment. "When I'm hanyou," he explained, "I really do have a different, stronger side that I don't possess as a human. I'm half youkai, and _most _youkaidon't experience emotions the same way humans do." he confessed. "But…" he added after a moment, "Being half human, my youkai side just makes it easier for me to ignore my human feelings. They're still _there_…" he assured her. "How I truly feel about…stuff…doesn't change when I turn hanyou."

"Stuff…?" she asked after a moment, slightly amused.

"Yeah, stuff."

"Am I 'stuff'?" she asked him then.

Chuckling a bit, he admitted, "Yeah, you're 'stuff'."

"And how you feel about 'stuff' when you're human doesn't change when you turn hanyou again, even if you try to pretend it does."

"Exactly."

"Okay then." she stated with a smile, snuggling herself a little closer against him.

Chuckling a bit for the second time, Inuyasha confessed as he pulled his left arm free from between them to wrap around her shoulders, "I'm glad I talked in my sleep."

"Me too…" she murmured against him, her words muffled slightly by the fabric of his suikan.

Inuyasha had thought for sure that that would be the end of their conversation for the night. He was relieved by her easy acceptance of what had happened, and of his admittance regarding his human emotions, but perhaps he shouldn't have allowed himself to relax quite _so_ much.

He honestly wasn't thinking when she suddenly murmured drowsily, "I used to talk in my sleep, too." and so his reply of, "You still do." left his lips before he had a chance to stop himself.

"What?" Kagome questioned, immediately pulling back again, his left hand falling away from her as she once again propped herself up on her elbow.

"I…uh…shit…" he muttered under his breath, though she had no trouble hearing him with such close proximity.

Fortunately, it was thanks to that same proximity that allowed his weakened human ears to pick up the distinctive sound of quiet giggles, and turning to glance in her direction in that moment, Inuyasha found himself feeling tremendous relief to catch sight of what he was sure was a smile on her otherwise shadowed face.

"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" she asked playfully in that moment.

"I'm glad you're not angry." he confessed then.

"Why would I be angry?" she asked, though not in a suspicious, accusing tone. She was genuinely confused.

"For…uh…for like, overhearing your dreams, or whatever, if you thought it was like an invasion of privacy."

"I can hardly blame that on you if I'm the one mumbling it all in my sleep."

It took Kagome a minute, but it finally dawned on her why he seemed so flustered, when she recalled _some _of the dreams she'd had on occasion. Over the last month, most of her dreams had involved the hanyou lying beside her in one fashion or another. While she hadn't had any of _those _types of dreams, which seemed a small miracle as she thought about it, Kagome was fairly certain she'd probably murmured enough to let him know that she had at least been dreaming about him in one way or another.

Quickly deciding to get the topic of conversation away from herself, Kagome asked in that moment, "So, in your dream, did anything change around all weird, or was it basically how it had actually happened?"

She had to admit, she was kind of curious if he'd had the same dream she'd had on occasion, that she'd been brave enough to do what she'd truly wanted to do back then, what she probably _would _have done, had Nazuna not shattered the moment by reminding her that she and Inuyasha weren't alone in the room. Of course, she hadn't been thinking anything too perverted. The guy had been poisoned, after all. But she had been truly tempted to lean forward and plant a chaste kiss upon his lips. A small token of the affection she'd known even then that she felt for him; an explanation for why she had been crying for him, and a promise for what could become if only he wouldn't die on her.

Kagome was pulled from her musings when Inuyasha's response of, "It was pretty much how it'd happened. Why?" had her feeling unexpectedly disappointed.

"Oh…" she responded, unable to mask said disappointment in her voice.

"Kagome?"

"I was just wondering, because…" she started, "…whenever I've dreamed of that night, I've dreamed of doing this…"

That said, she stretched herself forward, leaning over him only a little, until she found his lips with her own. The kiss was chaste, innocent, and over much too soon for him to have had any chance to react before she was already pulling herself away.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Inuyasha gently pushed the girl aside so that he could sit himself up slightly. Kagome sat up in turn, nervously trying to gauge the expression in his shadowed eyes. His raven hair wasn't helping, as it curtained his face when he looked down, blocking his entire visage from view.

"Kagome…" he started then, choosing his words very carefully. "I've never dreamed of doing that with you…" he began, secretly smirking when he heard the girl's breathing hitch. "But I've dreamed of doing this."

With those words, he turned, leaning himself over as he wrapped his arms around her, and while remaining ever conscientious of the fact that she had a broken leg, he hungrily smashed his lips back down against her own, his tongue delving passed the borders of her mouth to entice her own tongue to dance with him. Gone was any attempt to deny or ignore their obvious feelings for one another. On that night, in that moment, he knew she loved him, and she knew he loved her.

Just about the time when he realized he couldn't hold his breath for as long while in his human form, Kagome finally broke the kiss in desperate need of her own oxygen. Flushed and panting, the miko did her best to get her scrambled thoughts in order before speaking.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome started shyly.

"Yes?"

_Should I say it? _she asked herself._ Darn it! This is as good a time as any… _

"Um…I…"_Come on, Kagome, get a hold of yourself!_

"What's wrong?" she suddenly heard him ask in a worried tone, as if he was beginning to fear he'd gone too far.

"Nothing!" she assured him right away, maybe a little _too _quickly. "Nothing's wrong, I just…I just wanted to say that I…"

_Okay, romantic atmosphere __**gone**__, mission accomplished! Baka baka baka! _she chastised herself.

Smiling gently at the clearly flustered girl, Inuyasha pulled his wild hair back behind his ears, something he normally couldn't ever do. He then reached up with both hands and gently brushed Kagome's hair back behind her ears, as well, relieved when the girl's eyes drifted closed with a gentle smile on her lips at the contact.

Leaning forward, he whispered into her ear, "Come on, you can say it."

Opening her eyes, one look at Inuyasha's expression assured Kagome that he knew full well what she was trying to say. She wondered briefly if it was something she had previously confessed while talking in her sleep. It was very possible.

"I love you…" she stated finally, no trace of uncertainty in her voice. Might as well admit it if he already knew, right?

Inuyasha smiled at her then, a genuine smile with no trace of mischief behind it. The look in his eyes was simply and purely happy, as he replied, "I love you too, my Kagome."

That last part lingered in her mind for a moment, _"…my Kagome_._"_ She was _his_… He loved her, and she loved him…so that also meant that _he _was _hers_, didn't it?

With that last thought in mind, Kagome's expression suddenly took on a more sultry appearance, as she leaned herself forward to kiss him a third time, mirroring the passion he had just shown her. Within seconds, her tongue was begging at his lips, taking full advantage when he opened for her to explore him fully. He eagerly returned her passion, tightening his hold on her as she wound her arms up and around his neck.

It wasn't long before Inuyasha decided to take things even further, his tongue vacating the borders of Kagome's mouth to start a journey down her neck. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest, though the sound was muted to his temporarily human ears. Even so, her racing heart made it much easier for him to locate her pulse point, as he kissed it gently before teasing her skin with delicate love bites, careful not to cause her any pain.

Continuing to nip playfully up and down both sides of her throat, he took advantage of his lack of fangs to lay claim to her without breaking the skin. Kagome moaned softly at the contact, murmuring his name, and he growled seductively against her flesh, suckling her pulse point before nipping at her collarbone. Slowly, his eyes wandered downward, resting on the top button of her pajama top. Acting almost purely on passion and instinct, Inuyasha removed the hand that had wound up supporting Kagome's head, smiling in triumph as the girl permitted her head to tilt backwards as a result, exposing more of her throat to his greedy eyes. Dragging his tongue in a fiery trail across her heated skin, he stealthfully maneuvered his free hand to the front of her pajama top, and finding himself thankful to be without his hindering talons, Inuyasha deftly began unfastening button after button. He wasn't able to think about what he was doing, and whether or not he should be doing it. His entire body was functioning on passion-fueled autopilot, while most of the blood in his brain had relocated _elsewhere_.

Kagome's eyes were closed, and if she was aware of what his hand was doing, she made no move to stop him. She too had temporarily lost the ability to sustain coherent thought, so lost as she was in the passion of it all. At some point neither of them could recall, she had rolled over onto her back, so now, he was leaning slightly on top of her, though still somewhat off to the side. Her hands were wrapped up and around his back, sensually clutching the fabric of his suikan, while he continued to burn trails of searing heat across her flesh with his tongue. Panting heavily, Kagome's only reaction to his onslaught was to tilt her head further, granting him even better access to her throat. It wasn't until Inuyasha got the last button undone and his mouth suddenly found its way down toward her heaving chest that Kagome's mind was forcefully thrust back into reality.

"Ah!" she cried out, before quickly biting her lip to silence herself, hoping that if anyone had heard her they would just think she had moved her leg the wrong way.

"Eh…?" Inuyasha grunted in turn, louder than she would've liked, although the sound of his voice as he came back into himself was very reminiscent of the sound of someone being woken from a deep sleep, so that would work in her favor, at least.

Then Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Kagome's top splayed open before him, and the miko found herself biting her lip for a whole new reason as he harshly whispered "Fuck!" before immediately moving to vacate her bed.

_Damn it, I knew this would happen! Stupid weak pathetic human scum! I'm scum!_

As he rose to his knees in preparation for backing himself off her bed, Kagome had no trouble, even in such low lighting, noticing the very distinctive bulge in his hakama. Then her eyes were the ones widening in surprise. Flushed red, try as she might not to stare, Kagome simply couldn't look away, both fascinated and flattered by his reaction to their recent activities. She had to admit, he wasn't the only one who had gotten completely hot and bothered, and she was certain if he'd had his hanyou nose that her current state of arousal would've been just as obvious to him as his was to her.

Noticing her wide-eyed stare, Inuyasha followed the imaginary dotted lines in the air made by her eyes, and realizing exactly what she was staring at, it was with a second "Fuck!" that he jumped off the bed. At some point he had unconciously reached down to adjust himself so that he had sprung free from his constricting fundoshi, and the tent he was pitching in his hakama as a result was beyond obvious.

In half a step he was at her door, about to open it, when her quiet plea of, "Inuyasha, wait a minute. Please?" reached his ears.

Sighing, he lowered his hand from her door, though he didn't immediately turn to face her, standing with his back to her still. He just couldn't bring himself to look at her at the moment.

Realizing he was waiting for her to say whatever it was she wanted to say to him, Kagome swallowed her pride, as well as her embarrassment over the general situation, and while instinctively clutching her opened pajama top closed in her hand, she admitted… "I…I was just surprised. No one's ever…well…" Taking a deep breath, she decided to abandon that particular topic, and instead begged him, "Please don't be mad at me."

_That_ got him to look at her, as he spun around in shock at her words.

"Mad at you…?" he echoed, genuinely surprised by the look of guilt on her face. "Mad at _you?" _he stated again, ironically getting upset over the fact that she had asked him not to get upset. Still, he knew enough to keep his voice at barely above a whisper. This was a private conversation, after all.

"You're the one who should be mad at me." he stated in a matter-of-factly tone of voice, as though Kagome were a complete idiot for not having realized it on her own. Then losing his sudden bravado, the miko was sure from his slump in posture that his ears would've lowered to rest flatly against his head, had he had his inu ears in that moment, as he mumbled pathetically, "I'm…I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Inuyasha." she assured him gently.

For a moment, she was sure she saw his eyes light up with what almost looked like a combination of amazement and hope, but then a frown appeared on his visage once more, as he quietly murmured, "No, it's not…"

Thinking he was probably concerned about it being a matter of honor, Kagome assured him in that moment, "Yes, it is. I'm a big girl, and you didn't do anything I didn't want you to do."

His eyes grew wide at those words, the memory of just what he'd done being impossible to ignore.

He opened his mouth to say something, but "I…" was all be was able to utter.

Giggling a bit at his expression, Kagome asked him in turn, "Why all the insecurity all of a sudden?" When he only looked embarrassed but didn't answer her, she added, "We _just _confessed that we love each other, so you can't tell me you hadn't thought I would be willing to do those types of things with you, and aren't you the one who said he'd dreamt of doing those things with me?"

"I…" he started again, before lowering his eyes to the floor. "It's complicated."

"I'm listening…" he heard her whisper, and grateful for her understanding, Inuyasha took a moment to gather his thoughts, breathing deeply before finally braving raising his head to look her in the eyes once again.

"I wanted to kiss you so badly, but I hadn't thought we would…well…" he began, blushing at the recent memories of what had transpired. "I just didn't think too far into it, I guess." he confessed, lifting a hand to sheepishly rub the back of his head. "We can't go any further." he stated then, lowering his arm.

Unexpectedly, she giggled again, although he quickly realized she wasn't laughing at _him _as she gestured to her plaster-incased limb. "I know we can't." she pointed out.

That made the look in Inuyasha's eyes morph into surprise and guilt as he blurted out, "Oh _hell_, I forgot about your leg! Are you okay?"

Smiling, she reassured him, "My leg's fine…" but then her brow furrowed in confusion. "But…if you weren't talking about my cast, then what…"

Letting her words trail off, Kagome raised her eyes back up to meet his own. She was surprised by the unexpected look on his face, as she suddenly found him staring at her with a bit of a vacant expression, but then quickly realizing that she had accidentally released her pajama top when she'd gestured to her leg, she _Eep'd_ before holding her top closed with both hands.

Inuyasha blinked a moment before raising his eyes the few inches that were necessary to reach her face, a sigh of relief leaving his lips when he noted from her expression that she wasn't angry with him for the slip. He _was _a guy, after all.

Blushing as she fumbled with fastening the buttons of her top, Kagome valiantly ignored her faux pas as she asked him again, "If it wasn't my leg, then what is it?"

Moving forward, Inuyasha sat back down on the edge of her bed, wishing for all the world that he had his hanyou senses so he would be able to accurately discern her true reaction to what he was about to reveal. He was unsure of how to tell her what needed to be said, but figured after a moment that the first thing he really needed to do was figure out _exactly _what her feelings were for _him_. Reaching forward and taking her hand, he looked Kagome right in the eyes as he asked her, "What do you want, Kagome?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him in turn. She _thought _she knew what he was talking about, but didn't want to end up jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"With me…" he specified then, assuring her he _was _talking about what she thought he was. "What do you want…between you and me?"

Looking him right in the eyes, her voice was soft and sincere as she told him, "I want… I had hoped, especially considering recent events…" He knew she was referring to Kikyou. "…that you and I could be in a relationship."

"What do you mean by 'relationship'?" he asked her then, in a manner that made it clear he wasn't unfamiliar with the term, but that he simply wanted her to elaborate even more on _exactly _what it was she wanted. He needed to make certain she understood what being in a 'relationship' with him would truly entail.

Kagome was hesitant to continue, but only because she was worried she might scare him away if she poured her heart out all at once. They had just barely told one another that they loved each other, after all, so she didn't think it would be appropriate to suddenly ask the guy to marry her. While she knew he loved her, his current line of questioning was really starting to worry her.

"Well…" she started after a moment, "Like boyfriend and girlfriend?" she tried hopefully.

He just blinked at her, unfamiliar with the modern phrase.

_Damn it…how do people say it back in his time?_

Worrying her bottom lip, Kagome thought back to the one term she had heard used over and over again. While the terminology was a little degrading in her opinion, it wasn't truly all that different from what he himself had said just a few minutes prior, during their confessions of love.

"I want to be _your woman_, Inuyasha." she stated then, emphasizing the important part in a way that left no room for doubt.

He smiled at her then, finally explaining himself as he stated, "Human 'relationships' can be fleeting, I've seen it happen. They get caught up in the heat of the moment and join together without commitment. Of course that's not always the case, but with inu-youkai that's _never _the case. It isn't possible." he explained.

Kagome nodded slowly, doing her best to keep up. It sounded like he was saying he actually _wanted _a commitment with her, so that was a good thing, wasn't it? She smiled then, causing him to smile in turn, before a frown took over his features, a look of remorse dominating his eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kagome…that I allowed myself to be weak like the weak human I currently am." he apologized sincerely, causing a new feeling of worry to slowly build within her stomach.

"Wait…" she interrupted then. "If I understand you right, it's that inu-youkai don't have meaningless flings. If they pair up then it's always with a serious commitment, right?"

He nodded silently.

"So then why are you apologizing?" she asked with obvious nervousness. "Is it that, because you're currently human and your emotions got the better of you in a fleeting 'human' way, you got caught up in something you didn't really want?"

It hurt her to ask such a question, but she needed to know where he was coming from. He had seemed so happy at her confession of wanting to be his, but then again, he _hadn't _really said that he wanted a commitment with her, but only that there would be no other option. Now it was starting to sound like that meant he didn't want to be with her at all.

Eyes widening at how she had clearly misunderstood him, Inuyasha tightened his hold on her hand before leaning forward and wrapping his other arm around her in a half-hug.

"Kami…that's not it _at all_, Kagome. I want to be with you more than anything." he blurted, amazingly unashamed to admit his feelings out loud. "It's just that…well, because I'm human right now, I got a little carried away without my youkai instincts to butt in and stop me. But it would be a dishonor to join with you as a human without you being aware of inu-youkai custom. Because I'm hanyou, I suppose I technically _could _go against my youkai instincts, but I just can't because my honor won't allow it. Despite having a human heart, I'm inu-youkai in my soul. If we do this, we do it the inu-youkai way."

Relieved at his admittance, she pulled back from the hug, looking him in his eyes as she asked more for clarification, "And that is…?" She just needed to hear him say it plainly.

"Inu-youkai mate for life." he told her, granting her wish.

"I want you, Kagome." he continued after a moment. "I love you." he assured her, squeezing her hand. "But I just had to explain, because you're human, and while I don't know how things are done in your time, in _my _time, humans can be…well…_not _like inu-youkai."

She giggled a bit at the way he tiptoed around saying that humans, at times, could be a bunch of sluts. It was clear that's what he'd meant, though not necessarily in an insulting way, humans and inu-youkai were simply designed differently. Humans _could _go through life with multiple partners…especially in her time. Depending on the circumstances, such a thing wouldn't be looked down on at all, like a genuine relationship that had just gone south for one reason or another. But such a thing apparently didn't exist in the inu-youaki world. 'Till death do you part' was taken literally.

"So, if we had _sex…_" she began slyly, smirking at the way his eyes widened at her bluntness, "It would be like we were married? Only there's no such thing as divorce, so it would be forever, no matter what?"

"Marriage is the closet things humans have to the inu-youkai bond between mates." he agreed, "Though I've still seen those with impure hearts, those who _lie_, those who _cheat_. Inu-youkai do _not_ cheat on their mates." he emphasized. "We would be bound together until death." Trailing off on an after thought, he added, "The only reason I'm here is because Sesshoumaru's mother had died, otherwise our father would have never mated with my mother."

_No wonder Sesshoumaru hates him so much…_Kagome thought in passing, realizing that to the Daiyoukai, it must have felt like his father had betrayed his mother's memory, taking a human as his second mate.

"So…" she started after a moment, her thoughts back on the matter at hand. "You do want to be with me, but you just had to make sure I understood that, because you're an inu-hanyou, we have to follow the inu-youkai rules. Even though I'm human, and you're half human, your youkai side is dominant in this, and if we 'mated'…it would be for life, no ands, ifs or buts."

None of it was stated as a question, she was merely repeating it all to let him know that she_ did _understand.

"Yes."

"And how you feel about 'stuff' doesn't change when you turn hanyou, right?"

Chuckling, he leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her nose, before assuring her, "Yes, I will still want you for my mate in the morning."

Looking down at her cast one last time, Inuyasha's human ears were strong enough to pick up her mumbled curse of, "Stupid broken leg…"

Looking up to meet his eyes once more, Kagome giggled again at the amusement in his gaze. Lying herself back down in that moment, the miko affectionately patted his side of the bed, and that time, he didn't turn down her invitation, settling himself back down into his original position. Opening his left arm wide, Kagome cuddled herself against him, loving the extra layer of closeness as he held her to him with his left hand on her side. He didn't care if his arm fell asleep in that position, she was his and he wanted to make sure she knew that he _wanted _her to be his. It didn't take long for each of them to surrender to the luring temptation of slumber, and it was the most peaceful night's sleep either of them could ever remember.


	7. The Morning After

Chapter 7 – The Morning After

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Inuyasha awoke with the sun. There was simply no way he could've stayed asleep with the changes that overtook him as his demonic blood returned. With the first pulse he was wide awake, his eyes popping open just in time to reveal the darkened hue of his human orbs before they faded into their usual shade of golden yellow. All at once his transformation was upon him, fangs and talons growing, hair fading, ears shifting in both position and shape. He was hanyou again.

Within moments his heightened senses were accosted by the physical reminder of what had transpired the night before, and the lingering scent of Kagome's arousal nearly proved his undoing right then and there. He had to take a moment to will his body back under control before he did something he would regret; whether that something was flee or attack her with greater vigor, he couldn't be sure. Unlike waking up from a youkai transformation, his memories were unaffected by his human night; he remembered _everything_. He remembered how he had inadvertently let his human emotions get the better of him, going with the passion of the moment without thinking things through. He remembered the conversations that had taken place both before and after his encounter with the wonderful woman lying against him: his talking in his sleep, their confessions of love, his proclamation of wanting her for his mate, and her lingering concern that he would become a different person in the morning. He did feel incredibly embarrassed for losing himself like he had, but he could also admit, at least to himself, that it had probably been a good thing in the long run. While Inuyasha knew that he had already wanted to discuss the idea of becoming mates with Kagome, once her leg was fully healed, he had gradually started to become more and more nervous about how he was going to start the conversation, and now, that worry was behind him.

Everything was behind him. His issues with Kikyou were in the past, the issue of him not admitting his feelings to Kagome was in the past, the issue of _her_ not revealing her feelings for _him_ was in the past... Yes, there were still a few hurdles remaining in front of them – a few _big _hurdles, actually – but suddenly having the confidence to say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the woman lying in his arms loved him, and he loved her, and they were going to become mates, made issues like Naraku, and the sacred jewel, and the fact that they were from two different time periods all fade away into the background. They would deal with those issues as they came, together.

It was with that last thought in mind that the hanyou decided to reassure the girl currently pretending to be asleep that she didn't have to cherish her last few moments of closeness with him. Taking a deep breath through his nose and savoring everything that was wholly Kagome, now that he had himself back under control, Inuyasha knew in that moment that his heart wasn't about to change any time soon, or any time in the distant future, for that matter.

Kagome had awoken with the return of Inuyasha's youkai blood, the pulses in his youki brushing against her miko senses in a way that was impossible to ignore. Suddenly worried over what she would find when she greeted him, the teenager had quickly implemented the foolhardy strategy of pretending she was still asleep by remaining motionless. Even though she was unaware that he could easily scent her sudden bout of nervousness, the thought did cross her mind that his sensitive ears could probably pick up her increase in heartbeat, yet she still didn't move. Even though he hadn't moved a muscle, either, the miko was also equally sure there was no way _he_ could still be asleep. How could Inuyasha have possibly slept through his transformation if the pulses in his youki were strong enough to wake _her?_ So…she was either somehow miraculously fooling him, and he actually thought she was still asleep, deciding then to remain motionless until she stirred on her own, or he was playing his own game, letting her pretend for however long she planned on doing so, like a bizarre game of 'chicken' where they would see who eventually gave first. That was fine with Kagome. The longer she could delay the inevitable, the better.

The sudden stirring of the man beside her disproved that theory moments later, though, when it became apparent that Inuyasha was done allowing them to both ignore the giant elephant in the room. Her nervousness grew tenfold when he spoke.

"I know you're awake, Kagome."

_Damn_…

She remained silent.

Or at least what her human ears considered silent.

_Her heart sounds like it's about to fly right out of her chest…_ he mused, smirking to himself as he raised his left hand to gently stroke her hair down her back.

The girl started noticeably at the contact, but then quickly melted into him, realizing his tenderness could only mean one thing.

_He's not going to take it back…his heart hasn't changed_.

Cuddling herself a little closer to his side, Kagome smiled as his arm around her tightened against her back, and she was just about to open her mouth to bid him good morning when a sudden knock on the door startled them both. Inuyasha silently cursed himself for having allowed himself to become so thoroughly distracted by Kagome's presence, although he told himself it was only because he knew her time was safe that he had lowered his guard as he had.

"Kagome? Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi called from the other side of her daughter's closed bedroom door. "Breakfast is ready."

With the moment between them lost, all Kagome could do was offer Inuyasha a sheepish grin as their eyes met when they each sat up, Kagome scooting herself back and finding a comfortable position while Inuyasha vacated her bed to answer the door.

"Thanks, Mama!" the miko called as her mother handed the hanyou a tray that contained two bowls of miso soup and two small plates of rice and grilled fish.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, though that was truly not all that unusual. It wasn't until after each of them had finished their food that the silence became noticeable as something potentially awkward.

"Here…" Inuyasha eventually said, gesturing with a hand reached out towards the girl for her to hand him her dishes.

She knew there was a lot they needed to talk about, but the sudden explosion of butterflies in her stomach wasn't planning on making it easy. Saying the first thing that came to mind, Kagome mumbled after a moment, "Thank you for…letting me 'sleep in' this morning." The way she said it was more or less a confession of the fact that she hadn't truly been sleeping.

"Feh." he replied with a snort, a hint of amusement in his gaze as he headed for her door without another word, tray in hand.

The sudden desperate murmur of, "Inuyasha…?" coming from the girl behind him stopped the hanyou in his tracks.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to glance her way.

"About what you said last night…" Kagome started, biting her bottom lip nervously.

With a glint in his eyes, Inuyasha decided to tease the girl who currently had _her_ eyes averted to the bedding.

"What'd I say?" he asked, in as serious and confused a tone of voice that he could muster.

Kagome's eyes opened wide in horror as they flew up to meet his gaze, but the playful sparkle in his honey orbs had the girl relaxing as quickly as she'd begun to panic. As if he was truly going to act as though nothing had happened last night. Feh! As if he were even _capable _of acting as though nothing had happened last night.

Kagome had a mind to scold him for his joke, which was _not _funny in her opinion, but the look of absolute love and sincerity in his gaze had her holding her tongue as he told her, "Let me just take our dishes downstairs, and then you're right…you and I need to talk."

Her nervousness didn't return at his new tone of voice, but rather, she found extreme comfort in what he said and how he said it.

"All right." she agreed then, letting him go.

Inuyasha was back only moments later, and without preamble took a seat at the edge of her bed, his left leg dangling while he folded his right leg underneath him, sitting so that he was facing Kagome while she remained propped up against her headboard.

After a moment or two of simply staring across at each other in love and amazement, Inuyasha was the first one to speak.

"Kagome…" he began softly.

"Yes?" she replied then, holding his gaze.

"About last night…" he started. "It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been human." he confessed, and she nodded her understanding. "But I'm glad it did." he added then, causing her hesitant smile to grow.

"You really mean that?" she asked after a moment, wondering if he didn't at least partially regret what had been revealed the night before, even if he understood there was no way to turn back the clock.

"Keh…" he voiced behind an embarrassed chuckle. "I'd been thinking about discussing those things with you for a while now, but it's hard for me to express my emotions when I ain't human. I've spent my whole life trying to master _not _feeling my human emotions, because emotions make you weak." Taking a deep breath, he added, "Or at least, that's what I used to think."

Kagome remained silent, merely offering him an encouraging smile, so he continued to explain… "You taught me it's just the opposite. My emotions make me strong. My desire to protect you is what allowed me to master Tetsusaiga. My…love…for you is not a weakness. You make me strong."

Tears were gathering in her eyes, although he could tell from her scent that they were tears of happiness and so he wasn't disturbed by their presence.

"Oh, Inuyasha…" she began, truly at a loss for words. Still, it was as if her heart knew what to say all by itself. "Emotions can be both a weakness and a strength, trust me I know. I've loved you for so long, and yes, I've been hurt in the past because of that love, but it was also my love for you that kept me going, kept me by your side no matter what. I understand why you had to do what you did before, and now, we can look towards the future, together."

The reminder of the times he had inadvertently hurt Kagome in the past caused a tiny pinch of pain in his own heart, but she was right, that was in the past, and now the future belonged solely to them. It amazed him now, looking back on it, how he had been so incredibly blind to her obvious love for him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me how you felt?" he asked her in that moment, his voice not accusing as his eyes held confusion and curiosity.

"I didn't think you felt the same way." she answered him honestly. "It wouldn't have been appropriate."

He nodded his understanding then.

"The Kikyou thing was…very complicated." he admitted. "Part of me still loved her, in a way, I can't lie, but…it just wasn't the same as it had been before, you know? Like…I mean I cared about what happened to her, I wanted to make sure Naraku couldn't hurt her a second time, but I always knew there couldn't be any kind of a future between us in _this _world."

Making sure he had a lock on Kagome's eyes, Inuyasha needed to make sure she saw the sincerity behind his words as he told her "When I had agreed to die with her, it had been a matter of _honor_, because I felt responsible for her death and thought I needed to pay for her life with my own. _Not_ because I wanted her more than you, even to the point of following her into Hell. I wanted _you_. It was only because I had thought I would have to forfeit my life for my honor's sake that I never told you how _I_ felt. What would've been the point in asking you to be my mate if my life wasn't mine to plan out?"

A couple of tears slipped down Kagome's cheeks, one a happy tear stemmed from his words of love for her, the other born from sympathy for the unfair predicament he had once found himself in.

"Plus…" he continued in that moment, figuring he better get it all out while he was on a roll. "Part of me was terrified to discuss my feelings with you, even if Kikyou hadn't been in the picture at all. Sometimes it's still hard for me to believe that you don't mind my youkai blood."

"There's nothing wrong with your youkai blood." Kagome assured him right away, smiling tenderly as she wiped away her tears.

Nodding, Inuyasha confessed… "That's one of the main things that finally got me to see just how different you two really are. She never really accepted me as a hanyou, always emphasizing that it was because I was _half human _that she couldn't bring herself to kill me, and then later, why she could talk with me. She fell in love with my human half." Sighing, he added, "I know you know that at one time, Kikyou and I would've lived together as husband and wife, but it would've only been with me as a human. I never mentioned one thing to her about inu-youkai mating because I knew there was no way she would've gone for it. The subject of us getting together _at all _didn't even come up until _after _her suggestion of using the jewel to turn me human. Yes, I had been willing to do that for her, but one of the things I love so much about _you_ is that you actually accept my youkai blood. Given the choice…of course I don't want to use the jewel to turn myself into a human. I _hate _being human…you know that."

Kagome nodded her agreement.

"But with Kikyou, _she _hated my _youkai _blood, seeing me in her eyes as a human trapped behind demonic taint in need of cleansing. Had I been fully youkai, we never would've been able to grow closer, because she would have purified me on the spot. But you…you wouldn't have treated me any differently even if I had been a pureblooded inu-youkai."

It wasn't stated like a question. While he knew Kagome accepted him as a hanyou, had the rules of the universe been different and he were and always had been a pureblooded youkai instead, there was no doubt in his mind that Kagome would've still offered him her kindness, her friendship. Shippou and Kirara were proof enough of that, not to mention the mangy wolf. If all other circumstances had pretty much remained the same, then he was certain she would've still fallen in love with him. The look in her eyes in that moment spoke of her agreement to his belief.

"I think I would've missed these, though…" Kagome said in that moment, bravely reaching forward to tweak an ear as she winked playfully.

He chuckled in turn, his ear flicking back and forth a few times after she retracted her hand. Then a thought occurred to him. Sure, she would've still loved him as a full youkai. But would _he_ have still fallen for _her?_

"I think…" he admitted hesitantly then, "I think that it's because I'm half human that I can love you the way I do, though." he accepted finally, stating, "I don't want to use the jewel to become a full youkai, either. Not any more. I don't want to risk losing my human heart."

Kagome's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected confession. It was something she had always hoped for, though in the end, she wouldn't have pushed the issue. It was _his _decision. While she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would still love him even if he did become a full youkai, whether or not his heart would change had always been a very real concern of hers.

Reaching up with his left hand and rubbing his own ear for a moment with a bemused expression on his face that caused the girl in front of him to grin in amusement, the hanyou added after a moment, "If you can accept me for who and _what _I am, then maybe…maybe I can, too."

Getting serious, the miko took his right hand in her left as she stated, "I know you've heard it your whole life that you are tainted, or whatever other horrible words people have said to you that I'm sure I can think of but refuse to repeat." Nodding her head with conviction, Kagome added, "But I don't see you as being two halves of nothing. I see you as being the best of both worlds. A human man with the benefit of youkai strength and magic. A powerful youkai with the compassion and sympathy of a human heart. You are the perfect combination."

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "While I would still love you even if you used the jewel to turn yourself fully human or fully youkai, I would only want such a thing to be done because it was what _you _truly wanted, not because it was something anybody else had asked of you. I don't care about the rest of the world, but _I _accept you as a hanyou. You are living proof that true love knows no bounds, for your youkai father and human mother to find happiness in one another. I think you choosing to remain hanyou when a way for you to change it actually exists shows tremendous honor and respect for your parents. If you need to know what I truly, honestly want deep down in my heart of hearts, it really is for you to remain hanyou, as well. It's the hanyou man that I fell in love with, after all, so why would I want you to change? Also, I know in our conversation last night that I made my feelings clear, but I never really said the words, so here they are… Yes, I will _gladly _be your life-mate, by the inu-youkai custom."

"Damn, woman…" he groaned as her words made him feel his love for her in more ways than one. "We gotta do this 'talking' thing more often." he joked while squeezing her hand, before scooting himself a bit closer to her position. "Although," he added then, his voice suddenly taking on a lower, huskier tone, "Too much talking will make this awfully difficult."

That said, he released her hand while leaning forward, closing his eyes as he reached up with both hands to cup her face, cherishing the sensation of her lips pressed gently against his own. He would have to be conscientious of how he kissed her now that he had his fangs back, but that concern did nothing to hinder his passion in that moment. Kissing her while hanyou was a whole different experience, every nerve in his body fine tuned to the sensations rushing through him as his senses took in everything that was the girl before him.

Kagome immediately wrapped her arms up and around Inuyasha's neck at the contact, clinging to him as she eagerly returned his kiss. Then, stealthfully creeping up through his hair, her right hand made contact with his left ear for the second time that morning, and she cherished the sensation of rubbing the incredibly soft piece of fuzzy flesh between her thumb and fingers. Kagome was honestly surprised, though equally delighted, when he didn't pull away at her touch. Instead, he openly leaned into her hand, and it immediately became apparent to the miko that Inuyasha didn't dislike having his ears messed with as much as he'd always implied he did. It was probably only because he was sensitive about them, emotionally, because they branded him as a hanyou, that he usually never liked anybody touching them. Knowing how she felt about him, and how she felt about his ears, Inuyasha was more than willing to let her molest them. Especially if it meant he could do a bit of molesting, himself.

Gradually, the hands at her face ventured downward, gently brushing against her neck and shoulders before heading down her back, as he held her to him with greater passion, a pleased rumble starting in the back of his throat that sent shivers of anticipation and excitement rushing through her. When his right hand grew even bolder still, coming forward to unhesitantly palm her chest through the fabric of her pajama top, Kagome moaned against him, shamelessly arching into his touch.

It was the scent of Kagome's renewed arousal that brought Inuyasha back to his senses, his own arousal reawakened within the confines of his fundoshi, though he left it be that time. Now that she fully understood what it would mean for her to be his mate, giving her consent to abide by inu-youkai custom, his instincts were screaming at him to move forward and claim her for his own right then and there. But there was a very good reason why they couldn't consummate their relationship just yet…at least not comfortably.

The miko seemed to realize this on her own in that same moment, as she muttered, "Stupid broken leg…" under her breath when he pulled back from their embrace.

Chuckling a bit, Inuyasha affectionately moved his hand to rest on her left leg, the plaster of her cast currently hidden from view by the billowy extra large pajama bottoms her mother had purchased for her immediately following the accident. During the day Kagome always changed into one of her skirts, so he knew well what lied hidden under the flannel in that moment. While the presence of her cast had become less distressing once the initial shock from the hospital had worn off, it had still functioned as a constant reminder of what had happened to the girl. Perhaps she should just wear a skirt to bed, if it would prevent him from stupidly allowing his slumber trodden mind to temporarily forget about her condition. There were also some other benefits he could think of if she chose to wear one of those ridiculously short skirts of hers into bed. Damn…that line of thinking wasn't helping any.

"I want you so bad right now it hurts, and I don't just mean emotionally…" he confessed breathlessly as he rested his forehead against her own.

It only took Kagome a moment to realize what he meant, a rosy flush staining her cheeks as her eyes drifted down of their own accord. Smirking, and desperate to relieve the pressure, Inuyasha reached for himself in that moment, yanking his fundoshi to the side and again causing a distinctive bulge to tent out the billowing fabric of his hakama. His trousers were baggy, but not baggy _enough_.

"Maybe…" she started hesitantly, shocking herself by what she was proposing. Still, she hated to see the guy suffer. "Maybe I could…"

"I couldn't ask you to do that." he answered in that moment, thankfully knowing what she was trying to say and thus sparing her from actually having to say it.

"But my cast won't be coming off for another two weeks." Kagome pointed out, growing bolder by the minute as she teased, "Can you hold out for that long?"

Barking out a laugh at the girl's sudden brazenness, Inuyasha answered, "Hell, I've waited my whole life. What's two more weeks?" Growing bolder himself, he added, "Besides…" with a teasing smirk, "I know how to take care of myself, in the mean time."

Kagome's face flamed at his words, and laughing a genuine, mirthful laugh, Inuyasha leaned forward and planted an affectionate peck on her nose.

"Hentai…" she muttered under her breath, despite the fact that she had just offered to 'take care of' him _for _him not two minutes prior. Still, she could hardly get all that upset at him when the sight and sound of him laughing so openly filled her heart with warmth. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Inuyasha. These would be the longest two weeks of her life.


	8. The first day of the rest of their lives

Chapter 8 – The first day of the rest of their lives

.

.

The final two weeks of Kagome's recovery seemed to take forever, in their opinions, but the miko was overjoyed when her latest X-Ray revealed that her leg had in fact healed properly, and that the cast could _finally _be removed. While she was at that 'hospital' place having it done, Inuyasha took advantage of the opportunity to give their friends back in his time an update on her progress.

On _her _progress…

With her _leg_…

There was no _other _type of 'progress' to speak of.

Feh!

...

"So…" Miroku drawled, his eyes sparkling in amusement.

"So…what?" Inuyasha demanded evasively, refusing to meet the bouzu's gaze.

It had been getting worse and worse as time went on, the houshi's relentless teasing about how much time Inuyasha was spending in Kagome's world. Of course, Sango usually kept the lecher in line, not that she wasn't without her own line of questioning, although the taijiya's questions were usually more along the line of how Kagome was feeling, rather than _what _Kagome felt _like_. Still…cuddling up to the miko every night had certainly made any lingering anger he'd felt at Miroku's teasing melt away, and he'd never once answered the pervert's questions.

Inuyasha knew their friends meant well, but that didn't mean he was about to blab about how Kagome had agreed to become his mate. It was none of their fucking business! Unfortunately, because they had both witnessed what had transpired with Kikyou, and how he had chosen Kagome over his former love, even going as far as admitting openly that he did have feelings for the future-born miko, Inuyasha knew there was no way he could truly deny anything if they ever asked him straight out. His expression would give it away, even if his mouth managed to lie.

"Do you have any plans for…celebrating Kagome's recovery?" Miroku asked him then.

Predictably, the hanyou's face flamed as he yelled "Shut up!" causing Miroku to laugh even harder.

"The only plan we have is to get back on the fucking shard hunt." Inuyasha insisted then.

"Of course." the monk pretended to agree.

"Tell Kagome we are looking forward to seeing her again." Sango stated in that moment, shaking her head at Miroku's antics.

Meeting the taijiya's eyes thankfully, Inuyasha nodded once, before hoisting the yellow bag he held over his shoulder and making his way back to the well. Kagome would be coming home soon.

...

Back with Kagome and her mother, while the two of them were on their way home from the hospital, Kagome finally muscled up the courage to begin the conversation that was now two weeks in the making.

"Mama…can I talk to you about…something?" she began hesitantly.

"Of course, dear." Mrs. Higurashi answered in a comforting tone. "What's on your mind?"

"Uh, well…it's about me and…Inuyasha."

Kagome's mother looked over at her daughter, and couldn't help but to notice just how much her little girl really had grown up over the last few months. Kagome wasn't a child any longer. She was a young woman, capable of knowing what her heart desired. Mrs. Higurashi had known what _that _was for quite some time now. She was only grateful that now, Kagome was finally prepared to admit it, herself.

"Yes?" Mrs. Higurashi asked patiently, waiting for her daughter to collect the rest of her courage.

Taking a few noticeably deep breaths, the young miko plowed forward.

"I know you know that I love him." she stated quickly, chancing a glance in her mother's direction to note only how the older woman was nodding her head in agreement. "Knowing your 'Mother's intuition', you probably already knew that he loves me, too." Kagome added after a moment, gauging her mother's reaction to the exact nature of her statement.

"So, he has finally told you how he feels." was Mrs. Higurashi's response, a pleasant smile gracing her visage as her voice clearly gave away her happiness at this news.

"We have both confessed our feelings to each other." Kagome elaborated, wanting to make sure her mother didn't accidentally think she had been foolish enough to keep her feelings a secret from the boy, even after his own confession.

"I'm happy for you both." Kagome's mother stated honestly, glancing in her daughter's direction as they sat stopped at a red light, her expression clearly revealing her approval.

"It's more serious than just some schoolgirl crush, Mama." Kagome wished to explain in that moment. "My feelings for him, they're not going to change. And his feelings for me are not going to change, either."

"Have you two been intimate?" Mrs. Higurashi asked her daughter suddenly, causing Kagome to choke as a splash of crimson stained her cheeks.

"Uh…not really."

"Not really?" her mother repeated with a touch of humor in her voice.

"I mean…no, we haven't had sex…yet."

_Kami, can this get any more embarrassing? _

"I trust you to be responsible, Kagome." her mother stated then, adding, "Just be careful."

The miko groaned. When it came to 'the talk', it could _always _get more embarrassing.

"Not that I mind the idea of grandchildren with those adorable ears of his!" her mother cooed suddenly, chuckling when her daughter began to slowly sink into her seat.

"_Mom…_" Kagome started after a moment, her tone immediately grabbing the older Higurashi woman's attention. This was serious, after all.

Silently, her mother glanced in her direction for a moment, clearly portraying that she was listening, even though she had to keep her eyes on the road.

"Because Inuyasha is half inu-youkai, we have to abide by inu-youkai customs." Kagome started, quickly assuring her mother, "He hasn't talked me into doing anything I don't want to." before adding, "But it _is _a big decision, and I need to know you approve."

"If he wants you to get pregnant right away, he has to understand that your schooling-"

"Oh no, no that isn't it." Kagome interrupted, understanding her mother's concerns.

Over the last two weeks, she and Inuyasha had discussed in greater detail a _lot _of things regarding what it would mean for them to become mates. They had both agreed that her getting pregnant while they were still collecting jewel shards and hunting Naraku would _not _be a good idea, although he also guaranteed her that he could scent when she was nearing her fertile cycle, and that he would take whatever precautions were necessary to avoid it being an issue. Neither of them would have the heart to terminate a pregnancy if an accidental one did occur. Kagome had also gotten Inuyasha to understand how, even though she would ultimately be living with him in the Sengoku jidai, since it would be much easier for her to adapt to his time than for him to adapt to hers, she still needed to finish her schooling first, even if for no other reason than keeping up appearances. She needed to complete the responsibilities of her time for her honor's sake, and for the honor of her family. She refused to be labeled a dropout, and by that same token, it would also destroy her honor if she were to turn up pregnant at school with no legally recognized husband. While Inuyasha had stated that he would be more than willing to go through whatever formal ceremonies her time had in order to join two people together as husband and wife, such a thing couldn't really be performed anyway, or at least not legally, because Inuyasha had no identification papers.

"We have both agreed that children need to wait a while, for several different reasons." Kagome told her mother then. "But…" she added hesitantly after a moment.

"Kagome, dear, whatever it is just say it." her mother requested of her, although her tone of voice was still a positive one.

"Inuyoukaimateforlife." Kagome blurted quickly, so quickly in fact that her mother nearly missed catching it. Nearly.

"I see." she stated after a moment. "Do you doubt your readiness to make such a commitment?" she asked her daughter then.

Mrs. Higurashi wouldn't tell Kagome what she thought she should do. The only one who could truly speak for the level of her daughter's love for the hanyou boy was Kagome herself. Mrs. Higurashi believed in her heart that Kagome's love for Inuyasha was genuine, but she also believed that if her daughter was feeling any hesitance towards stepping into something so permanent, that that decision should then wait until when and if she felt more certain. If Kagome was already certain of her love for him, however…

"Absolutely not." the miko answered without hesitation. "But I hate the idea of basically eloping without your consent first. It'll be just like we are married, except it's even more important because there's no such thing as divorce. I know I'm ready, Mama." Kagome stressed, the sincerity of her words impossible to ignore.

"You're right, Kagome, this is a very big decision." Mrs. Higurashi answered then, sending a smile her daughter's way. "Under normal circumstances, if you were merely asking for my permission to marry some schoolboy sweetheart, I would probably tell you that you needed to wait until you were older, just to make sure you really knew what was in your heart. But these circumstances are definitely not normal, and I have known in _my_ heart from the moment you ran out of the kitchen with Inuyasha on your heels to go back and fight that hair oni that your destiny was unique."

Kagome's smile grew as her mother's words continued, the older woman's consent becoming clear, even before she stated, "Yes, Kagome, I give you my permission to 'marry' Inuyasha by his youkai customs. You two belong together."

"Thanks Mom, you're the best."

Arriving back at the house, Kagome was ecstatic to enjoy her first_ real _bath in over a month. She scrubbed her left leg in the shower extra long to be sure all the funk of 'cast' was removed before relishing in the sensation of lowering herself into the tub of hot water. She could hear her mother talking with the rest of her family out in the kitchen, but quickly deciding to tune the voices out, she sunk herself lower into the water, submerging her ears.

_Such a difference…_ she thought absentmindedly, wondering if the contrast was similar in comparison to how Inuyasha felt about his own hearing whenever he turned human. Her thoughts continued to wander in similar ways, always about the half-demon that had stolen her heart, until she was finally pulled back into reality when she noticed how cold her bath water was becoming. Sighing, and fighting the urge to turn on the faucet and reheat the water, Kagome figured it was probably time to dry off before her feet got so wrinkly it hurt to walk.

Making her way through the living room, Kagome couldn't help but notice the way Souta was excitedly going through his video game collection, talking about which ones he would bring with him to Satoru's house that night.

"You're staying the night at Satoru's?" Kagome asked, mildly surprised. Their mother didn't usually allow him to sleep over at his friend's house on a school night.

"Yeah!" her little brother answered as he turned around, arms full of video games and even a couple of movies. "She said it was cool, his mom could just give me a ride to school with him in the morning."

"Well, have fun." Kagome answered with a smile, before resuming the trek to her room.

Grateful to be wearing a pair of pajama bottoms that weren't so loose she had to pull the drawstring to its limits, Kagome sat down on the edge of her bed and started practicing flexing her leg at the knee, making sure she would be in tip-top shape for getting back out on the shard hunt. Her leg was a little weak, but she was doing much better than she had feared. Inuyasha would be pleased.

And speaking of the hanyou, the significance of that night – her first night without the cast – was not lost on Kagome, and the more she thought about it, the more she found herself fighting a losing battle against the growing swarm of rabid butterflies in her stomach. Trying desperately to _not _think about it, the miko was just able to get her mind back on track as far as testing her leg's limitations went, when a sudden knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.

"Come in!" she called joyfully.

Trying and failing to hide her smile, Mrs. Higurashi entered her daughter's bedroom looking for all the world like she knew a wonderful secret.

"What?" Kagome asked with a slight chuckle to her voice, amused by her mother's bizarre expression.

"Oh nothing…" her mother waved off in that moment, clearing her throat to conceal a giggle before asking, "How's your leg doing?"

"Much better than I had feared, thank the kami." the miko answered, flexing said appendage in demonstration.

"That's good." Mrs. Higurashi nodded in agreement, her smile shifting from amusement to sincerity. "I'm very proud of you, Kagome. You know that, right?"

"Mama…" Kagome replied in wonder, a slight blush staining her cheeks. She had never thought she was anybody special.

_I'm just Kagome…_ the miko thought even in that moment.

Still, she couldn't deny her mother's words from the car ride home. Her destiny was unique. Of that she was certain.

"Oh! I nearly forgot…" Mrs. Higurashi spoke up then, startling her daughter with her excited tone. "Your grandfather has been wanting to visit the Nobuyuki shrine for ages, but since it takes so long to drive up there I haven't wanted to make the trip without you being at home to watch after Souta. But with him staying the night at Satoru's house tonight and heading straight to school in the morning, this is the perfect opportunity. So we will be leaving here in just a few minutes, and should be home some time early tomorrow afternoon, before Souta's due back from school."

Kagome listened to her mother's news in a slight daze. It only took her a moment to realize that with everybody heading out for the night, it meant that she and Inuyasha would be home _alone_.

"Mama!" Kagome gasped in embarrassed shock, earning herself an open laugh from the older woman.

"What?" Mrs. Higurashi teased. "You would feel more comfortable joining with Inuyasha if we were all within earshot?"

"We are so not having this conversation…" the miko groaned, her face a nice shade of fire-rat red.

Getting serious, Mrs. Higurashi moved to take a seat beside her daughter on the bed, and pulling Kagome into a sideways hug, she told the teenager, "It didn't sound to me from our conversation in the car that this 'mating' was something you two were planning for the distant future." Smiling as her daughter could do nothing but blush even darker, she added, "I can't imagine you two have very many opportunities for privacy in the Sengoku jidai, traveling with your other companions, camping out in the open, potential dangers lurking around every corner. You know the hazards of his time far better than I do, I'm sure, but one thing I _do _know is that our home is safe and secure, and for this night, it will also be private. However you two decide to spend your evening together is up to you, but I already told you you have my blessing to become his wife by inu-youkai tradition. I know what that means."

Blinking away stray tears of joy, Kagome met her mother's gaze and told her, "Inuyasha said he would be happy to partake in a human wedding, to honor our family and our own traditions. In the Sengoku jidai, most commoners don't perform wedding ceremonies, but Inuyasha knows of them because his mother was a Hime. Weddings back then were done to symbolize uniting two whole families, not just two people, and he said he had no intention of letting you think he did _not _think of you as his family. I know it wouldn't be legal, but if Jii-chan wanted to perform the ceremony himself, here at the shrine…"

Kagome let her words trail off as she noted the tears of joy her mother was now doing her best to keep at bay.

"That would be wonderful." she told her daughter quietly, before pulling Kagome close and kissing the top of her head.

Then perking back up, Mrs. Higurashi jumped from the bed as she stated, "In the mean time, I better go pack myself an overnight bag, and if you two decide to head back into the past before we come home, know that I love you, and that I welcome Inuyasha into our family."

"Thank you, Mama. I love you too." Kagome replied as her mother left the room. She would never get over how understanding and accepting her mother had always been since her mission in the past had first begun. She hoped her grandfather would take the news all right, but Kagome knew his desire to visit the Nobuyuki shrine up north was legit, and prayed that he would take the news better if he was in a good mood. The fact that Inuyasha was willing to partake in a shrine wedding would probably help, too. At least Kagome didn't have to worry about her grandfather accidentally purifying him during the ceremony.

That thought brought an amused smirk to her lips, and the miko found herself relaxing as she resumed flexing her leg while listening to her family hustle and bustle to get ready to leave for the night.

...

Inuyasha arrived on Kagome's side of the well shortly after the miko returned home with her mother. Noting that the girl wasn't in her room, he opted to wait for her to finish with her bath up on the roof. He had very nearly made his presence known when he heard Mrs. Higurashi enter Kagome's bedroom, and his face burned crimson at the conversation that soon followed. He then decided to wait until everyone had left the house before gently stepping down to the ledge just outside Kagome's bedroom window, knocking softly.

"Hi!" Kagome greeted excitedly, rushing to open her window for him to enter.

"Hi yourself." he replied with a smile, stepping down and into her room.

"Check it out!" the miko said then, demonstrating the strength of her leg by hoping up and down on it.

Maybe she was just lucky, or maybe it had something to do with her miko powers, but the doctors had told her they'd never seen such a miraculous recovery. It was as if her leg had never been broken at all. There wasn't a trace of knitting visible on the X-Ray. The muscles were a little weak from lack of use, but even that mild issue wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Of course, she had been contentious to flex her muscles over the last six weeks to the extent her cast would allow, so she was sure that had probably helped in some way, but whatever the reason, Kagome was ecstatic that they would be able to get back on the quest without further delay due to any more recovery time. Save that excuse for the school board.

"That's wonderful." Inuyasha stated with a genuine smile, pulling Kagome into a quick hug.

Then pulling back, he found himself feeling mildly embarrassed by his boldness, and sheepishly scratching at the back of his head, he asked, "So, uh…think you'll be up for heading back tomorrow?"

It was pretty much a given that they wouldn't be heading back to the past _that _evening.

"Well, I don't have to go back to school right away, since we can just tell them that I'm having trouble walking and need a few more days recovery, so yeah, getting back to the quest as early as tomorrow seems doable."

She would've loved a few more days of peace and quiet with just the two of them, maybe show him around her time a little bit now that she was mobile, but Kagome understood the importance of their mission all too well. She was mentally cringing at the thought of how much more powerful Naraku might have become while she was incapacitated.

Sensing her thoughts, Inuyasha assured her in that moment, "During all of the times I've gone back to see the others, including this morning, nobody's heard anything from any passing travelers about any disasters that could be that bastard's doing. Things have actually been pretty quiet, at least around Musashi.

"Well, that's good…" Kagome commented, before adding under her breath as she glanced down, "…except it makes you wonder what he's planning."

Kagome was startled when a pair of hands entered her line of vision, gently grabbing a hold of her own hands, which caused her eyes to raise back up to meet her companion's gaze.

"Whatever he's planning, we'll get through it. Together."

_Oh, Inuyasha…_

Lost in his gaze as she was, Kagome didn't hesitate to close the gap between them, rising herself up on her toes for better access. Seeing her approach, Inuyasha bent his head to meet her half way, his heart hammering in his chest as their lips met. Releasing her hands, he wrapped his arms around her back, gently holding her to him while she clung to him in return. Allowing the kiss to remain simple and tender, he pulled back after a moment, tightening his hold as she rested her head against his chest, each of them savoring the moment for as long as they could.

"So I hear we're all alone for the night." Inuyasha breathed after a moment, smirking to himself when he heard the heartbeat of the woman in his arms speed up at his words.

"How long were you up on the roof?" Kagome asked him after a moment, knowing that even his hearing wouldn't have been able to pick up their conversation from the Goshinboku. Not with the window closed, at least.

"Since before you got out of the bath." he confessed, adding, "I was just about to let you know I was here when she beat me to it, knocking on your door, and then I didn't want to interrupt any mother/daughter moments, so I decided to wait."

"You decided to eavesdrop." she corrected, though her tone of voice was one of amusement.

"I wanted to make sure you'd finally talked to her about us." he admitted, having told Kagome over a week ago that it didn't feel right to take her as his mate without her mother's permission. Not that it would've stopped him, per se. It just wouldn't have felt right.

"Mama adores you." Kagome told him then, pulling back from their embrace to look him in his eyes once more. "Though not as much as I adore you." she added, gently tugging on his hand as she walked him the few steps towards her bed. It was really too early in the evening to be thinking about going to sleep, but she somehow doubted they would be getting very much sleep that night, regardless of how late it got.

Settling herself onto the mattress and scooting over enough to make room for him, Inuyasha wordlessly complied with the unspoken invitation as he followed her example, discarding Tetsusaiga to rest against the wall before crawling into bed after her.

Propping himself up on his left elbow and using his right hand to brush some stray hairs from her face, Inuyasha searched Kagome's eyes with his own as he asked her, "Are you absolutely certain that this is what you want? That _I _am what you want?"

"More than anything." she answered, reaching up with her left hand to gently rub at his right ear. "Please…make me yours."

Inuyasha growled low in his throat at the pleasure of her words, not to mention her talented fingers as they manipulated his sensitive ear. Diving down, Inuyasha crashed his mouth upon hers in a barrage of kisses that both literally and figuratively left her breathless. Maneuvering himself so that he was propped more directly over the miko, Inuyasha shifted his legs until he encouraged her own legs to open, as he rested himself fully against her, careful not to crush her by applying too much weight. Though they were both still fully clothed, Kagome could already feel the evidence of his desire pressing against her, and the knowledge that she could affect him so strongly, so quickly, had her own arousal soaring in that moment. Raising her hips up to rock against him, the added stimulation of her movement was all it took for Inuyasha to lose what little coherent thought he had left.

His hands were everywhere. Cupping her cheeks as he continued to kiss her senseless, cupping her breasts as he gave into his most primal urges to claim every inch of her, unfastening the buttons on her top so that he could trail his tongue lower as he had during his human night… The miko's hands were far from idle, as she somehow managed to reach in between their bodies to tackle the ties holding his robes closed. It wasn't long before they were each topless, each relishing in the sensation of flesh on flesh. Inuyasha nipped and suckled at her throat, enjoying teasing her as she squirmed under the effects of his gentle torture. Inching his tongue slightly lower, instead of crying out in surprise, Kagome moaned low in pleasure as she fisted one hand in his hair, her other hand molding and kneading the muscles of his back.

Climbing back up to meet her mouth again, Inuyasha kissed her hungrily, while continuing to rock his hips against her. Kagome responded by reaching down with both hands, trailing her fingers along his muscular back before slipping them below the hem of his loosened hakama, cupping bare flesh as they continued to move against each other. While they were each technically virgins, neither the hanyou nor miko were strangers to the notion of sexual pleasure, each having fallen victim to the demands of their own bodies' desires on multiple occasions, thoughts of the other person filling each of their fantasies. Now, it was time for those fantasies to become reality.

Inuyasha struggled not to lose his senses entirely. He was engulfed by Kagome's heat. Her desire burned him, and burned within him, igniting his own internal flames, and he wouldn't have wanted to douse the fire even if he could have. Kisses were broken only by gasps and moans of pleasure. As he reached down to palm her bare chest she arched her back, pressing herself more firmly into his hands. Shifting her own hands in that moment, Kagome began tugging at his hakama, the loosened garment sliding down his legs without protest from either their fastener or owner. Kicking his pants off the rest of the way, Inuyasha pulled back from the girl below him only long enough to rid her of her pajama bottoms before reclaiming her body with his own, each of them clad only in their underwear.

Taking a moment to savor the simplicity of touching one another without the involvement of bandages, Inuyasha and Kagome each let their partner explore their bodies to the fullest in that moment. The miko didn't argue when her soon-to-be-lover delicately teased a rosy bud, watching in awe as the small bead of flesh pebbled at his touch, growing as erect as his excitement. In turn, the hanyou didn't protest when his mate-to-be traced her fingers down his abs and stomach, as Inuyasha lifted himself away from her body enough to allow room for the exploration. He did gasp in surprise, however, when her exploring fingers became decidingly less innocent, as they ventured beyond the relative safety of his naval to travel even lower, circling around something that was silently begging to be touched.

She gripped him firmly through the fabric of his loincloth, and hissing in pleasure, he unconsciously began rocking himself into her hand. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually getting his mind back on track, Inuyasha quickly moved to return the favor, shifting himself so that he was resting his body off to the side of hers, as he reached down between her legs. Kagome moaned at the contact, her hips unconsciously rising in time with his movements.

Neither could say how long they remained like that, each of them lost in the pleasure they were feeling at the hand of their partner. But it wasn't enough.

Kagome was the first to grow bolder, reaching down with her free hand to find Inuyasha's, stilling his ministrations for only a moment as she silently showed him what she wanted, moving his fingers underneath the cloth of her panties. Eyes widening in awe, Inuyasha pulled his face back from any further kissing as he met Kagome's eyes with his own, gauging her reaction as he pleasured her directly. He had never felt anything more amazing in his entire life. There was nothing in existence that could possibly compare to the sensation of a woman giving herself freely to her lover's touch.

Although if there were, it would be the sensation of a woman freely offering her touch to her lover's body in return.

Inuyasha became so preoccupied with the pleasure he was bringing Kagome that he didn't even notice it when her own hand stopped its rhythmic tugging, nor did he notice it when her fingers began skillfully plucking at the edge of his fundoshi, or when she pulled the front of the loincloth to the side as he himself had previously done within the confines of his hakama, causing his excitement to be fully exposed. He did notice it, however, when the miko's delicate hand resumed its work, flesh on flesh.

_Kami! _

"Ka-Kagome!" he gasped, quickly pulling away from her. "Sl-slow down!" he pleaded, stilling her hand with his own.

It took the hanyou a few moments to catch his breath, and when he opened his eyes, which he didn't even remember pinching shut, it was to spy the amused expression of his future mate.

"Sorry." she apologized behind a chuckle, easily able to guess at the reasoning behind his hasty retreat.

Shaking his head as a final wave of tingles lazily traveled through his body, Inuyasha returned Kagome's chuckle as he admitted, "It's fine, but…the first time I spill my seed with you involved, I definitely want it to be _inside _of you."

Instead of getting embarrassed at his words, Kagome rolled herself flatly onto her back before reaching down and pulling off her panties. "Well then, what are you waiting for?"

With his expression turning primal to reveal his instant desire, his instant hunger for her, Inuyasha offered no protests as he pulled his fudoshi free from his body before crawling himself over her form. While some part of him would prefer to take her in the true inu-youkai fashion, he was human enough to want to see her face for their first joining. He was only grateful that the timing had worked out so well. She was passed her fertile cycle for the month, so he knew he had nothing to worry about in regard to an accidental pregnancy. If the timing had been different, he would've insisted that they wait, regardless of having the house to themselves for the night. While she had told him of a product her world had that he could wear, something that would catch his seed and prevent the risk of pregnancy, he had been completely honest when he said that for their _first _time, he wanted his seed inside of her. It was necessary in order to claim her as his true life-mate. To do otherwise would feel like cheating the rules in some way. Some could argue that they weren't truly mated if his seed never entered her body. He refused to allow that possibility to come into play. In the future, he wouldn't mind using a condom, but not tonight.

Kagome felt no fear as the man above her began lowering his hips. Shifting his weight so that he was holding himself above her on his right hand, he reached down with his left and got himself properly aligned.

Before continuing, a softly spoken "Kagome…" captured the miko's attention, and looking straight ahead into the smoldering gaze of the man she loved, she replied to his unspoken question with, "Please, Inuyasha, make me whole."

Nodding his understanding, the hanyou continued then, moving forward at an agonizingly slow pace. Replacing his left hand to the right of Kagome's head so that he was once again bracing himself above her with both hands, he kept his eyes locked firmly on her own as he branded her as his for the rest of their lives. Searching her face for any hint of pain, the smile in her chocolate eyes assured him that she was not suffering.

Kagome had known what to expect, to a point. All the 'talks' in the world could never truly prepare you for the real thing, but what little discomfort there was, was drastically overpowered by the significance of the moment, by the amount of love she felt for him, and by whatever remaining awkwardness had lingered between them having died a quick death prior to climbing into bed together. She was completely at ease in his presence, and she welcomed him, both into her heart, as well as her body.

Picking up the pace gradually, Inuyasha continued to monitor Kagome's expression for any signs of distress. She winced a few times, but it was always immediately followed by a whispered "Don't stop" or "Keep going". Then, before Inuyasha knew what was happening, her whispers became louder moans and grunts, and her words became things like "_Kami _don't stop" and "Faster".

The hanyou did his best to abide by her wishes, but the sensations swarming his body were just too intense.

_Oh shit, oh fuck…_he thought frantically, barely able to keep his rhythm from the incredible waves of ecstasy washing over him. His entire body was shaking. This was _nothing _like pleasuring himself with his own hand. The telltale sensation that foretold his pending release literally came out of nowhere.

"Arrrghh!" he grunted, surprised and mildly embarrassed, though also extremely, extremely satisfied.

Unable to hold himself up any longer in that moment as his shaking arms gave out on him, Inuyasha gently laid his weight against the girl below him, nuzzling the crook of her neck as he desperately tried to slow the frantic pounding of his heart. Wiping his damp bangs from where they clung to his sweaty forehead, Kagome did her best to spy his expression from her position as she asked him with a mild touch of humor to her voice, "Are you okay?"

"Damn, woman…" was his muffled reply, which had Kagome unable to suppress her giggles, though she wasn't really laughing _at _him. Fortunately, Inuyasha's expression was also amused as he lifted himself back up a bit.

"Sorry 'bout that." he mumbled with a crooked smile, to which she replied lovingly, "There's nothing to apologize for. You've made me the happiest girl in the world."

Taking a deep breath and growing positively possessive as he detected the immediate change in her scent, the one that revealed to anyone with a decent sense of smell that she belonged solely to _him_, Inuyasha's expression suddenly turned sultry as he assured his mate, "Well you're about to get even happier. Inu-youkai are _very_ attentive to their females' needs."

That said, he kissed her briefly before moving himself down her body. Kagome barely had time to register that his weight was no longer bearing down on her when she _Eeep'd _in surprise at his 'attentiveness'. Primed and ready from their earlier activities, it didn't take Kagome long at all to regain what had slowly been developing within her prior to his release. As for the hanyou, he would make sure she _never_ forgot what a fast learner he could be when the moment called for it.

Kagome lost it with a powerful cry that had his ears instinctively pinning flat against his head in an attempt to muffle some of the noise, though her screams of pleasure were music to his flattened ears. Raising his eyes to meet the sated, euphoric gaze of his mate, when she murmured sleepily "C'mere…" while holding her arms wide in invitation, Inuyasha didn't hesitate to crawl back up her body, lovingly returning her embrace.

The pair dozed lightly for a couple of hours until Kagome's stomach awoke Inuyasha, and suddenly remembering that they had skipped dinner, the miko fixed them both some leftovers augmented by two cups of ramen. Heading back up to her room after they were finished with their meal, they ended up making love two more times before finally collapsing in utter exhaustion. Inuyasha got to satisfy his youkai half by taking his mate from behind like a true inu-bitch, and after the youkai in him got what it wanted, the human in him was willing to submit, as Kagome was in control, riding him from above for their third joining. Neither of them were left wanting more as sleep finally took over their minds for the duration of the night.


	9. Epilogue

The following morning, nothing was awkward for our favorite couple as they stirred lazily to the sounds of songbirds chirping right outside the opened bedroom window. Waking up in each other's arms had become commonplace by that point in time, although this was the first morning that greeted them sans clothing. Unashamed in the presence of each other's nudity, neither of them attempted to hide themselves from their mate's eyes as they casually dressed for the day.

Despite Inuyasha's previous eagerness to get back to the mission, he came to realize just how nice it was to be able to spend time with Kagome alone as the couple shared a peaceful breakfast around her family's kitchen table, and decided in that moment that they could wait until after her mother and grandfather's return before heading back to his time. Besides, he wanted to thank Kagome's mother personally for allowing him into their lives, and into their family.

The rest of the morning was spent cuddled together in each other's arms as they sat upright on Kagome's bed, Inuyasha holding her to him preciously as he leaned back against the wall. They spoke of their hopes, their dreams, and their fears. No matter what life threw at them, they would face it together, and each of them swore to the other that their love would never waver, never fade with time, and _never _fall for a trick thought up by the evil hanyou. They were certain that if Naraku ever caught wind of their mating it would make Kagome an even bigger target than she already was, but Inuyasha vowed that he would protect her all the more fiercely, and that included never letting her leave his sight for days at a time returning to her world unescorted. They reached the compromise that so long as she never put up a fight over the fact that he would always be going with her, he wouldn't put up a fight about her wanting to return home in the first place. Yes, it did put a stop to their mission whenever she needed to return to the future, but that wasn't really the _real _reason why he always bitched about it as much as he did. Admitting in that moment that he had always missed her whenever she was gone, and that a part of him had even feared she would never return again, even if it was against her will and some evil plot of the well itself, Inuyasha was afraid she was about to scold him for his foolishness only to discover Kagome's lips pressed against his own in understanding, apology, and reassurance.

When her mother and grandfather finally returned in the early hours of afternoon, Mrs. Higurashi pulled Inuyasha into a loving embrace, and told him that while she knew she could never replace his own mother, he was more than welcome to call her by the title. In fact, she practically insisted that he call her 'Mother', although her manner was playful, earning herself a smile from the half-demon as he agreed to her request.

Kagome's grandfather was none too thrilled, as was to be expected, but he then surprised the couple by admitting that he had known it was only a matter of time. Just like Kagome's mother, the old man had been unable to deny his granddaughter's calling. He still had a more old-fashioned way of thinking, as was to be expected, and like Kikyou, he only accepted Inuyasha because of his human half, but he at least went as far as to admit that his youkai half must not be evil…otherwise his ofuda would surely work on him, because there was clearly nothing wrong with the ofuda themselves. Kagome had to struggle not to giggle at that, while her grandfather told her mate that he was _lucky _he was a hanyou, because he would not have permitted her to go traipsing around with a pureblooded youkai. Because his heart and mind were human, thus ensuring he would love and honor Kagome like a proper husband should, Jii-chan said he could overlook Inuyasha's youkai body, and would not reject his future part-youkai great-grandchildren. At a complete loss for words, Inuyasha bowed respectfully, doing his best to fight back the first ever tears of joy stinging the inside of his eyes.

When they finally made their return to the Sengoku jidai, Kagome found herself swept up in welcoming embrace after welcoming embrace immediately upon entering Kaede's hut. Sango was first, followed by the elderly miko, and then Miroku. Inuyasha glared daggers at the monk while he hugged Kagome, but sending the hanyou a look of compliance, Miroku had no intention of doing anything inappropriate as he welcomed back the girl he had truly come to think of as a little sister of sorts. Impatiently waiting for the adults to finish their turns, little Shippou was last, and he practically flew straight into Kagome's arms while crying her name, grateful beyond words to finally have his miko back. Inuyasha smirked to himself at the sight, noting how the wench was awfully good with children, and while he knew it definitely had to wait a while, he began fantasizing about just what their future children might look like. Lost in thought as he was for the moment, the hanyou failed to realize just what his expression revealed to their friends, two seconds before Shippou took a deep whiff of the woman holding him and blurted excitedly, "You mated!"

Inuyasha choked while Kagome's face grew as dark as her mate's kimono.

"Really now…" Miroku chimed up, thoughtfully stroking his chin, while Sango was too embarrassed by Shippou's bluntness to reprimand the houshi for exploiting their friends' shattered privacy for his own amusement.

Shippou didn't understand their reactions, as if it was supposed to be a secret. The change in Kagome's scent was obvious, after all. He thought it was great news, because if Kagome was mated to Inuyasha, then that meant she would be staying in their time, instead of one day returning to her own world for good, which had always been his secret fear.

It was a fear the hanyou had shared until very recently.

Finally getting over his initial shock and sending another glare in the houshi's direction for his comment, Inuyasha puffed up his chest in that moment before glancing around at the other occupants of the hut, namely the trained warrior-woman who was almost as protective of Kagome as _he _was, and the elderly miko who could purify him to a crisp if she so chose. He showed no fear as he admitted, "Yeah, so? Anyone got a problem with it?"

"None whatsoever." Miroku answered honestly, though he couldn't keep the smirk from appearing on his lips.

"We're happy for you." Sango added in that moment, her smile more genuine and less amused.

Getting over her own embarrassment over how their friends had just found out about their mating, Kagome tried to look on the bright side of at least not having to worry any more about how to bring the subject up more subtly.

_I guess if it's obvious to Shippou, it'll be obvious to most other youkai, too…_

That thought had the miko realizing something that would definitely break her new mate of his sudden defensiveness.

"I'm sure Kouga will have a problem with it, though it's really none of his business." she stated matter-of-factly, though with the slightest touch of humor to her voice.

Just as predicted, instead of growing more agitated at the sound of his _formal _rival's name, a huge grin broke out over Inuyasha's face, revealing his fangs, as he openly and lovingly wrapped his arm around Kagome's shoulders, pulling her to his side as he laughed at the ookami's expense. He even promised for Kagome's sake not to kill Kouga, and only remain on the defensive if the wolf ever decided to attack him. With the tension in the atmosphere thoroughly broken, Kagome surprised her friends for the second time in as many minutes as she then asked Kaede to remove the subduing rosary. She would've removed it herself immediately upon Inuyasha's original confession of love, but the young miko knew that only the one who cast the spell on the rosary could remove it, so it had been beyond her power.

Inuyasha bowed his head humbly as Kaede lifted the holy beads from around his neck, his posture reminiscent of one most people adopted when _acquiring _something, like a medal. Raising his head as he felt the weight of his necklace removed, the hanyou reached a shaky hand to his chest, as if to confirm its absence, despite the fact that he could see the beads quite clearly in Kaede's hands. The fact that Kagome had asked for them to be removed showed tremendous love, and tremendous trust. He _did _have an evil side lurking just under the surface, though it was also true that he'd never harmed Kagome during one of his transformations, and it was clearly her belief that he never would.

Dinner that night was spent joyfully around the fire-pit in Kaede's hut, as everyone got caught up beyond what the pen pall letters had been capable of doing. They joked and laughed, teasing each other good-naturedly. Then, the following morning, it was finally business as usual as the ini-tachi headed back out into the unknown.

Just as predicted, when Kouga finally made his next appearance, the ookami-youkai could immediately detect the change in Kagome's scent that branded her as belonging to the hanyou. Fortunately, he didn't become as violent as they had all feared was possible, slumping his shoulders in defeat as he begrudgingly admitted to knowing all along of her feelings for the mutt. He had only hoped that he would be able to sway her heart, having also known of Inuyasha's previous indecision regarding the former undead miko. Learning that Inuyasha had in fact chosen Kagome over his past love openly, and that Kikyou had voluntarily passed on and would never again be an issue between them, Kouga was secretly glad for Kagome, wanting the girl to be happy above anything else.

The next time Sesshoumaru came around he showed amazing disinterest in the whole thing, having already accused Inuyasha of keeping Kagome around as a mate the first time he'd met the miko in their father's tomb. The fact that she finally 'stunk' like his half-brother only proved to the Daiyoukai that his original beliefs had been true all along. The half-breed shared their father's weakness; a fate he swore would never befall himself, even as he strolled off with a little human girl hot on his heels. Only time would tell what might or might not develop in that department.

The final battle with Naraku was long in the making, though when the dark day was finally upon them, they were ready. It took everything they had, and the help of a few additional allies collected along the way, but the dark hanyou finally met his end, and the Shikon no Tama was finally completed. In Kagome's time, her friends all thought she had finally been cured of whatever mysterious string of illnesses had been inflicting their friend since around her fifteenth birthday. Because she missed so much school during the buildup to the final showdown with their enemy, her family had told the school board they had sent her away to a medical facility that would be trying a few things to see if they could find a cure, so upon her return, the story was that they had succeeded.

Kagome was able to finish the rest of her schooling leisurely, without the extra strain of worrying over the outcome of potential life or death battles while trying to study for her various exams. Inuyasha was content to hang out in Kagome's time during her days at school, following her from the shadows, waiting up on the roof of the school for her classes to be over. It was sometimes boring, but he would _not _leave his mate alone in her world for the kami knew what to happen to her. It was mildly embarrassing for Kagome the day she got busted when her mate overheard her friends asking her about her 'jealous, two-timing, possessive boyfriend', but the miko was as honest as she possibly could be when she told them that Inuyasha had finally told his ex-girlfriend that he chose _her_, and that the two of them were together now, for good. She even went as far as telling her friends that she and Inuyasha were engaged to be married, since in a way it was true, he _had _agreed to go through the motions of a Shinto wedding with her after she graduated from high school. The fact that they were already mated and the 'wedding' would only be for show was irrelevant. Once Kagome got home Inuyasha appeared and teased her a little, but also informed her that he would be more than willing to stick up for himself if her friends needed to hear it from his own mouth that he would never be breaking her heart ever again.

Until school was over, Kagome and Inuyasha spent most weeks in her time and went back together to visit their friends in the past during the weekends. It was quickly discovered that the completed Shikon no Tama was more trouble than it was worth, at least back in the Warring States era where there were beasts of all sorts drawn to the power of the jewel. Having the jewel in the past put the entire village at risk, as it acted like a giant beacon, luring everything towards them. Still, Kagome didn't dare leave it unattended in the future, even though there didn't appear to be any more youkai in her own time after the bobble. Despite the apparent inactivity of youkai in her time, the girl knew she couldn't take any chances, which left her reluctant to venture into the past at all, until they came up with a solution. Kaede was the one who suggested the possibility of the young miko taking the Shikon no Tama back within herself. It had been dormant within her body, and Mistress Centipede had only been able to smell it because she had gotten so close to Kagome. There would still be a marginal danger for the girl as any youkai who got close enough would be able to smell the jewel within her body, but it would at least prevent the jewel from sending out a signal that attracted youkai from all over the country. Kagome readily agreed, having come to the same conclusion Kaede had. She had been born with the Shikon no Tama within her body, and within her body it would return; it never should have been removed in the first place. Within her, the jewel was most easily protected, and it was also naturally kept pure, unable to be touched by evil.

Kagome had thought some sort of surgery would be required, but as it turned out, she was able to absorb the jewel within herself merely by placing it against the scar where Mistress Centipede had ripped it from her body. Even more remarkable, the scar glowed before fading before everyone's eyes, indicating to the two miko that the jewel was happy with their decision. Kagome felt a rush of power as the jewel reentered her body, but not in a scary way. It was comforting, as if the jewel was thanking her.

Life continued to move forward for the inu-tachi. It wasn't long before Sango and Miroku admitted their love for one another and decided to live together as husband and wife. Ordinarily, Sango would be required to move in with Miroku and his family, but because he had no family of his own in the village, and no place to call home, it was decided that with the aid of the village carpenter, a new hut would be constructed for the couple. They had done the world a service by ridding it of the evil that was once Naraku, so the villagers were eager to do whatever they could to help, to extend welcome to the houshi and taijiya. It was also quickly discovered that Inuyasha and Kagome were welcomed amongst the people, as well, despite his youkai blood. Many of the elderly still remembered him from their childhood, from the days of Kikyou, and how he had earned the miko's trust and had fought along side her as a good guy, until the day he had seemingly betrayed them all, which they now knew was truly a result of Naraku's trickery. The younger village members who had grown up hearing the tales of the evil hanyou who had betrayed them had since gotten to know the real Inuyasha behind the legend, and knowing that Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation, everyone was willing to accept Inuyasha if _she _was. It wasn't long before a hut was under construction for them as well.

Back in the future, after Kagome's graduation, it was finally time to perform the Shinto wedding, for which her grandfather acted as Priest. It was a very small wedding, but a few close friends were invited. It was mildly uncomfortable, but to take care of the issue of his ears, Inuyasha agreed to let Kagome carefully pin them back within his hair so that they were tucked out of sight, and his hair was fluffed up to some extent and pulled forward enough to conceal the fact that he had no human ears resting at the sides of his head. There was really no way to hide his other demonic characteristics, such as his unusual eye coloring and his fangs, but her school friends always seemed to overlook Inuyasha's unusual appearance. The human mind tended to ignore what it couldn't understand, she supposed. Until being dragged down into the Bone Eater's Well on her fifteenth birthday, she wouldn't have automatically thought 'youkai' at the sight of somebody with claws and fangs, either.

Finally a married adult by her time's standards, Kagome made the official move into her new hut with Inuyasha back in his time, though thanks to the ever present jewel within her body, the well remained open for travel, so they could still return to the future from time to time to visit with her family. Inuyasha was eager to stop using condoms during her fertile time of the month, and it wasn't long at all before Kagome announced that she was expecting. Afraid to see a modern doctor in case any _unusual _physical traits showed up on the ultrasound, Kagome was still able to take advantage of modern medicines and knowledge to ensure that hers was the safest, easiest pregnancy the Sengoku jidai had ever seen.

She gave birth to their daughter, Megumi, in late spring. Kagome was touched beyond words when Inuyasha chose the name he did for their first child…blessing. She had raven hair and chocolate eyes, but it was clear the Daiyoukai blood of his father was dominant in many ways, because even though the girl was only one-quarter inu-youkai, she inherited her father's canine ears, claws and fangs. Only time would tell if she could harness the power of her youki for energy-based attacks like her father. With one adventure having finally come to a close, the adventures of life were just beginning.

_~ Fin ~_


End file.
